Inter-species relationships of African Primates in the tropical lowland and montane forests

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In this research project, the following four research activities were conducted ; 1. the comparative ecology of the sympatric gorillas and chimpanzees in Zaire and Congo, 2. the study of forest structure of tropical forests and interactions between primate community and fruit production, 3. morphological studies of Cercopithecus species in Zaire, and 4. invitations of two researchers from Zaire to Japan.In the tropical forests, the sympatric gorillas and chimpanzees were different each other in their feeding ecology. The most characteristic feature of gorillas in Congo in comparison with those in Zaire was that they used to go inside the swamp to feed water plants.In the montane forest of Zaire, the meat eating behavior and tool using behaviors were observed. The medical plant usage by gorillas were suggested by fecal analysis, which was similar to the medical plant usage of chimpanzees in Tanzania.It was found that the forest of the study site in Zaire was composed of small forest patches with few dominant species by using a super-long transect method. However, in the study site of Congo, the three vegetation types were clearly found. The three types of fruits production were categorized concerning seed dispersion. The features of the fruits were seemed to combined with the behavior of their seed dispersors in the context of coevolution.The allometry of brain size and body weight among Cercopithecus were studied.Dr. N. MWANZA was invited in 1990 to Japan to study the ecology of sympatric apes. Mr. M. MWANGA were also invited in 1991 to Japan to study the morphology of Cercopithecus species.