Do “savanna” chimpanzees consume C4 resources?

Sponheimer, Matt; Loudon, James E.; Codron, Daryl; Howells, Michaela; Pruetz, Jill D.; Codron, Jacqui; Ruiter, Darryl J. de; Lee‐Thorp, Julia A.

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.02.002

Cited by 142 publications

(119 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Average monthly human scalp hair growth is 1 cm (20), but as yet, hair growth in chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates is not well characterized. However, this study, and previous nonhuman primate research by Schoeninger et al (17,18), Sponheimer et al (16), and Oelze et al (12) assumes that hair growth in Pan is similar to that in humans. This assumption is further validated by Rosen (21), who compared human scalp hair with a range of primate head hair and found no significant distinctions between them.…”

mentioning

confidence: 51%

“…Previous research on unsexed (16,24) and sexed (23) chimpanzees, habituated sexed bonobos (12), and other primate species (17,18) indicated that significant sex differences in adult δ 13 C and δ 15 N are unlikely. We found no significant sex differences in δ 13 C in the Taï chimpanzees; however, our δ 15 N values support behavioral observations of significant meat eating among some adult males at Taï compared with adult females and juveniles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Carbon isotopes estimate dietary dependence on plants growing under particular ecological conditions and can be used to differentiate between C 3 -and C 4 -based diets (14). Stable isotope ratios of nitrogen are used to estimate the trophic position of an organism (15), with an estimated stepwise tropic enrichment of ∼3‰ from herbivore to omnivore and omnivore to carnivore commonly used (15,16). Therefore, using the "you are what you eat" principle, stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen in body tissues provide a way to quantitatively distinguish between long-term dominant plant versus animal consumption, thus identifying the level of animal-derived protein in the diet (17,18).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Stable isotope evidence of meat eating and hunting specialization in adult male chimpanzees

Fahy

Richards

Riedel

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Observations of hunting and meat eating in our closest living relatives, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), suggest that among primates, regular inclusion of meat in the diet is not a characteristic unique to Homo. Wild chimpanzees are known to consume vertebrate meat, but its actual dietary contribution is, depending on the study population, often either unknown or minimal. Constraints on continual direct observation throughout the entire hunting season mean that behavioral observations are limited in their ability to accurately quantify meat consumption. Here we present direct stable isotope evidence supporting behavioral observations of frequent meat eating among wild adult male chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire. Meat eating among some of the male chimpanzees is significant enough to result in a marked isotope signal detectable on a short-term basis in their hair keratin and long-term in their bone collagen. Although both adult males and females and juveniles derive their dietary protein largely from daily fruit and seasonal nut consumption, our data indicate that some adult males also derive a large amount of dietary protein from hunted meat. Our results reinforce behavioral observations of male-dominated hunting and meat eating in adult Taï chimpanzees, suggesting that sex differences in food acquisition and consumption may have persisted throughout hominin evolution, rather than being a recent development in the human lineage.dietary ecology | stable isotope analysis | human evolution C omparisons with extant primates and other mammals are essential to understanding the varied ecological niches occupied by early hominins. Data from chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) indicate that populations living in different forest habitats have different food repertoires (1-4). Variation in hunting behavior and meat consumption has been observed between populations, with chimpanzee communities acquiring and consuming meat with varying levels of importance, from those who hunt rarely and largely opportunistically for slow-moving small mammals (4) to more regular, systematic hunting of medium-sized prey (2, 3, 5). As all chimpanzee populations rely heavily on various plants, nuts, and invertebrates for their daily energy requirements, the disparity in vertebrate meat consumption across populations has led some researchers (6, 7) to suggest that meat is an occasionally consumed, nonessential dietary supplement.The chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) of the Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, are known to be some of the most specialized chimpanzee hunters, consuming large quantities of meat annually, predominantly from Western red colobus (Procolobus badius) and, occasionally, Western black-and-white colobus (Colobus polykomos) monkeys (3,8). Hunting at Taï is cooperative among the male chimpanzees, and after capture, division of the resultant prey rewards participation in the hunt, rather than nepotism (2, 8). A significant adult male sex bias is also evident, with adult males reported to consum...

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confidence: 51%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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confidence: 99%

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Stable isotope evidence of meat eating and hunting specialization in adult male chimpanzees

Fahy

Richards

Riedel

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Their survival in such a habitat was possibly facilitated by dietary niche expansion to include novel C 4 resources, the exploitation of which is uncommon among extant great apes including savannadwelling chimpanzees (24,25), although more common among many savanna baboons (26,27). The appearance of C 4 resources among early hominins would represent a significant ecological shift, but the timing and geographical variability across Africa remains unclear.…”

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Isotopic evidence for an early shift to C₄resources by Pliocene hominins in Chad

Lee‐Thorp

Likius

Mackaye

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

105

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Foods derived from C 4 plants were important in the dietary ecology of early Pleistocene hominins in southern and eastern Africa, but the origins and geographic variability of this relationship remain unknown. Carbon isotope data show that Australopithecus bahrelghazali individuals from Koro Toro in Chad are significantly enriched in 13 C, indicating a dependence on C 4 resources. As these sites are over 3 million years in age, the results extend the pattern of C 4 dependence seen in Paranthropus boisei in East Africa by more than 1.5 million years. The Koro Toro hominin fossils were found in argillaceous sandstone levels along with abundant grazing and aquatic faunal elements that, in combination, indicate the presence of open to wooded grasslands and stream channels associated with a greatly enlarged Lake Chad. In such an environment, the most abundant C 4 plant resources available to A. bahrelghazali were grasses and sedges, neither of which is usually considered as standard great ape fare. The results suggest an early and fundamental shift in hominin dietary ecology that facilitated the exploitation of new habitats.

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“…Experimental studies need to be done on the limits of chimpanzeedigging. Similarly, chimpanzees commonly consume the pith of C4 plants, yet not the seeds or corms, and so their stable isotope data are confusing (Sponheimer et al 2006). (It seems likely that staple exploitation of cereals requires grinding technology, which seems to be absent in wild chimpanzees, but apparently has not been tested with apes in captivity.)…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

In search of the last common ancestor: new findings on wild chimpanzees

McGrew

2010

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

105

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Modelling the behaviour of extinct hominins is essential in order to devise useful hypotheses of our species' evolutionary origins for testing in the palaeontological and archaeological records. One approach is to model the last common ancestor (LCA) of living apes and humans, based on current ethological and ecological knowledge of our closest living relations. Such referential modelling is based on rigorous, ongoing field studies of the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and the bonobo (Pan paniscus). This paper reviews recent findings from nature, focusing on those with direct implications for hominin evolution, e.g. apes, using elementary technology to access basic resources such as food and water, or sheltering in caves or bathing as thermoregulatory adaptations. I give preference to studies that directly address key issues, such as whether stone artefacts are detectible before the Oldowan, based on the percussive technology of hammer and anvil use by living apes. Detailed comparative studies of chimpanzees living in varied habitats, from rainforest to savannah, reveal that some behavioural patterns are universal (e.g. shelter construction), while others show marked (e.g. extractive foraging) or nuanced (e.g. courtship) cross-populational variation. These findings allow us to distinguish between retained, primitive traits of the LCA versus derived ones in the human lineage.

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Do “savanna” chimpanzees consume C4 resources?

Cited by 142 publications

References 41 publications

Stable isotope evidence of meat eating and hunting specialization in adult male chimpanzees

Stable isotope evidence of meat eating and hunting specialization in adult male chimpanzees

Isotopic evidence for an early shift to C₄resources by Pliocene hominins in Chad

In search of the last common ancestor: new findings on wild chimpanzees

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Do “savanna” chimpanzees consume C4 resources?

Cited by 142 publications

References 41 publications

Stable isotope evidence of meat eating and hunting specialization in adult male chimpanzees

Stable isotope evidence of meat eating and hunting specialization in adult male chimpanzees

Isotopic evidence for an early shift to C4resources by Pliocene hominins in Chad

In search of the last common ancestor: new findings on wild chimpanzees

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Isotopic evidence for an early shift to C₄resources by Pliocene hominins in Chad