Energetic Costs of Feeding in Primates

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This research focuses on collecting novel data on the energetic costs of feeding in primates to generate new connections between lab-based studies of the functional morphology of the feeding apparatus and studies of primate feeding ecology and life history. This study provides a foundation for new research aimed at linking evolutionary morphology to primate ecology and life history in a way that cuts across multiple disciplines within biological anthropology. Results will be placed in an evolutionary context by evaluating their implications for the interpretation of diet and feeding ecology in fossil primates and, specifically, during human evolution. In addition to training graduate and undergraduate students, this research will have educational outreach as a priority and will occur through presentations at local science fairs and in K-12 classrooms. The biomechanics and ecology of feeding provide fundamental data for understanding primate adaptation and evolution. However, the lack of a comparative dataset on the energetic costs of feeding is a major gap in knowledge that limits our ability to understand the biomechanical events that occur during feeding and the selective pressures that influence feeding in an ecological context. Respirometry is a non-invasive technique that measures the energetic costs (the use of oxygen and the production of carbon dioxide) an animal incurs while at rest or performing activities. Respirometry data are collected simultaneously with digital video recordings of behaviors during feeding in fourteen primate species, including humans. Data are also collected during feeding on six food types that encompass the range of primate diets. From these data, the energetic costs of feeding will be quantified. Six specific aims address the impact of feeding on the activity budgets of primates and address key energetics-based questions about the relationship between diet, structures of the feeding apparatus, and the functions of these structures during feeding. The results will generate new data for connecting feeding biomechanics with feeding ecology, bio-energetics, and life history. Explicit hypotheses concern effects of scale, anatomical variation, and food material properties and frame structure-function-behavior questions about the feeding apparatus in relation to ecological and life history variables in a way that cuts across multiple scientific disciplines. The main strength of the species sample is its broad range in terms of phylogeny, diet (insectivores, ripe fruit specialists, folivores and omnivores), and body size. The incorporation of anatomical traits that are commonly preserved in the fossil record provides the potential for new interpretations of the feeding ecology and energy budgets of fossil primates, including fossil humans.