Food transfers in wild and reintroduced golden lion tamarins, Leontopithecus rosalia

We collected data from wild and reintroduced golden lion tamarins (Leontopi thecus rosalia) to describe the behavior of donor and recipient during food transfers, evaluate the effect of supplemental feeding on food transfer be havior, and examine various hypotheses concerning the function of food tran sfers in primates. Behavioral observations were conducted on 12 groups of t amarins with young (N = 30) between the ages of 1 week and 1 year old. Resu lts show that food transfers involve various behaviors, from steals by reci pients to offers by donors; transfers mostly derive from adults and are dir ected at immature weaned young (between 3 and 9 months old); and that most items transferred were prey or fruits that require skill. to process. Eleve n percent of food transfers were preceded by an adult vocalization specific to that context, whereas 86% were preceded by conspicuous infant vocalizat ions and begging behavior. The most common vocalizations were loud and aton al (rasps) and broad banded frequency modulated (trills). Infants born to r eintroduced parents vocalized less, whereas reintroduced adults vocalized m ore before transferring food than their wild counterparts. Reintroduced adu lts and young received more food transfers (4.4 per hr) than did wild-born adults and young (2.2 per hr). Our findings suggest that food transfer in g olden lion tamarins is best understood as provisioning of young that have n ot fully developed foraging skills to ensure they get the necessary resourc es for growth and survival. Am. J. Primatol. 48:305-320, 1999. (C) 1999 Wil ey-Liss, Inc.