POSTURE AND SUPPORT USE OF OLD-WORLD MONKEYS (CERCOPITHECIDAE) - THE INFLUENCE OF FORAGING STRATEGIES, ACTIVITY PATTERNS, AND THE SPATIAL-DISTRIBUTION OF PREFERRED FOOD ITEMS

A common objective in field studies of positional behavior is to estab lish functional links between locomotion, body size, habitat use, fora ging strategies, and maintenance activities. In contrast, there has be en relatively little effort to examine posture in a similar, comparati ve context. Although various studies have shown that particular postur es are employed in specific contexts, the theory which could provide t he basis for understanding posture on a more general level has not bee n explicitly stated. This is particularly true for primates lacking sp ecializations such as prehensile tails, claws for clinging, or adaptat ions for forelimb suspension. Consequently, there are few a priori rea sons for predicting postural differences among generalized arboreal qu adrupeds. Six sympatric cercopithecid monkeys were studied for 14 mont hs in the Ivory Coast's Tai Forest to determine if more general relati onships do exist between posture and other aspects of behavior. The re sults demonstrate that the postural diversity with these primates can, to varying degrees, be understood within the context of differences i n the spatial distribution of preferred food items, activity patterns, support use, and foraging strategies. Am. J. Primatol. 46:229-250, 19 98. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.