The Nature of Dietary Differences Between Apes and Monkeys

猿类和猴子之间饮食差异的本质

• 批准号: 9120960
• 负责人: Richard Wrangham
• 金额: $ 11.3万
• 依托单位: Harvard University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1992
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1992-07-01 至 1994-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9120960&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Nature; Dietary; Differences; Between; Apes

The primary objective of this proposal is to study the dietary choices demonstrated by an ape (the chimpanzee) and several congeneric species of monkeys in the Kibale Forest of Uganda. Physical anthropologists have for many years debated the reasons for the grater success of monkeys relative to apes since the Miocene and the clear diminution in the number of species of ape. Wrangham has hypothesized that the success of the monkeys has been due to their ability to process secondary compounds in vegetation more effectively than apes. These compounds are a variety of toxins which limit the food choices of animals unable to detoxify and digest them. Confirmation of this hypothesis will be advanced by observation of the food choices of the two primates during a synchronous study. In this study the investigators will observe the food choices of the study species during feeding in order to quantify the dietary intake. In addition samples of the foods will be gathered for laboratory analysis. The data will then be analyzed for food choices and composition and the used to clarify the habitat utilization by this ape and the three monkey species.

这项建议的主要目标是研究乌干达Kibale森林中的一只猩猩(黑猩猩)和几种同类猴子所表现出的饮食选择。多年来，体格人类学家一直在争论自中新世以来猴子相对于猿类更成功的原因，以及猿类物种数量明显减少的原因。Wrangham曾假设，猴子的成功是因为它们比猿类更有效地处理植被中的次生化合物。这些化合物是各种毒素，限制了无法解毒和消化它们的动物的食物选择。这一假设的确认将通过观察两个灵长类动物在同步研究期间的食物选择来推进。在这项研究中，研究人员将观察研究物种在进食过程中的食物选择，以量化食物的摄入量。此外，还将收集食品样本进行实验室分析。然后将对这些数据进行食物选择和组成的分析，并用这些数据来澄清这种类人猿和这三个猴子物种对栖息地的利用。