Adapting methodology used on captive subjects for estimating gut passage time in wild monkeys

Stringer, S. D.; Hill, R. A.; Swanepoel, L.; Koyama, N. F.

Abstract

Gut passage time of food has consequences for primate digestive strategies, which subsequently affect seed dispersal. Seed dispersal models are critical in understanding plant population and community dynamics through estimation of seed dispersal distances, combining movement data with gut passage times. Thus, developing methods to collect in-situ data on gut passage time are of great importance. Here we present a first attempt to develop an in-situ study of gut passage time in an arboreal forest guenon, samango monkey (Cercopithecus albogularis schwarzi) in the Soutpansberg Mountain, South Africa. Cercopithecus spp. consume large proportions of fruit and are important seed dispersers. However, previous studies on gut passage times have been conducted only on captive Cercopithecus spp. subjects, where movement is restricted, and diets are generally dissimilar to those observed in the wild. Using artificial digestive markers, we targeted provisioning of a male and a female samango monkey four times over three and four days respectively. We followed focal subjects from dawn until dusk following each feeding event, collecting faecal samples, and recording the date and time of deposition and the number of markers found in each faecal sample. We recovered 6.61% ± 4% and 13% ± 9% of markers from the male and the female respectively and were able to estimate a gut passage window of 16.63 – 25.12 hrs from three of the eight trials. We discuss methodological issues to help future researchers to develop in-situ studies on gut passage times.

Citation

Stringer, S. D., Hill, R. A., Swanepoel, L., & Koyama, N. F. (2020). Adapting methodology used on captive subjects for estimating gut passage time in wild monkeys. Folia Primatologica, 91(4), 417-432. https://doi.org/10.1159/000505369

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 10, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Feb 18, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-07
• Deposit Date: Dec 10, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 18, 2021
• Journal: Folia Primatologica
• Print ISSN: 0015-5713
• Electronic ISSN: 1421-9980
• Publisher: Karger Publishers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 91
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 417-432
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1159/000505369
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1275625