Feeding Ecology of Saguinus bicolor bicolor (Callitrichidae: Primates) in a Relict Forest in Manaus, Brazilian Amazonia

Abstract

This study is part of a long-term ecological study of habitat and dietary requirements of the pied bare-face tamarin (Saguinus bicolor bicolor). One group was studied for 11 months in an area of secondary forest in a suburb of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Three main vegetation types occurred inside the group’s home range (12 ha): capoeira, older secondary forest and campinarana (white sand forest). The tamarins ate fruits (21 species), flowers (1 species), exudates (4 species), and arthropods (insects and spiders). They spent 14.3% of total activity time seeking and eating animal prey, and 9.9% feeding on plant material, mostly fruits. In general, fruits consumed were ripe, small and succulent. Trees used for feeding were low and had small crown diameters. Three plant species (Protium aracouchinni, Myrcia cf. fallax, and Couma utilis) were used intensively during the three seasons covered by the study period. The concentrated use of 3 fruit species, each for an extended period (one fruiting species per season), provided the tamarins with a regular food supply. Tamarins consumed exudates from holes in the bark of trees of the families Anacardiaceae and Vochysiaceae, as well as gum exuded from seed pods of Mimosaceae. Exudates were exploited during the dry season and at the beginning of the wet season. Group travel was primarily based on routes connecting the fruiting trees exploited, with foraging for animal prey occurring during travel. Tamarins searched for arthropods on trunks, branches and leaves and in trunk holes. The foraging and feeding tactics displayed by S. b. bicolor are closely linked to morphological characteristics (small size and weight, claw-like nails) that allowed access to energy-rich resources (arthropods and plant exudates) in different strata of the vegetation.

Habitat and the evolution of social and reproductive behavior in callitrichidae

“…Ferrari's [1988,1991 study of C . flauiceps and Egler's [1992] study of S. bicolor were in the second situation (Fig. lb); a large area of secondary growth resulting from clear-cutting.…”

Influence of Arthropod and Fruit Abundance on the Dietary Composition of Highland Colombian Woolly Monkeys (Lagothrix lagotricha lugens)

“…eat arthropods only very rarely (1.3% of the diet composition for Ateles geoffroyi and 1.5% in a study year for Ateles hybridus) [Chapman, 1987;Link, 2003, respectively]. Many small frugivorous primates, such as the bare-face tamarin (Saguinus bicolor, 460 g) or the saddle-backed tamarin (Saguinus fuscicollis, 300-400 g) invest on average 20% of their feeding time eating prey such as slow-moving insects [Crandlemire-Sacco, 1988;Egler, 1992]. Other middle-sized monkeys, like the Colombian white-fronted capuchin (Cebus capucinus, 2.9-3.9 kg), tend to dedicate around 16.9% of their feeding time to eating arthropods or, as in the case of black-capped capuchins (Sapajus apel la, 3-4.8 kg), they eat a wide variety of arthropods such as ants, larvae, termites, grasshoppers, beetles and wasps, because this resource provides high-quality protein, energy and micronutrients [Chapman, 1987;Izawa, 1979;Rothman et al, 2014].…”

When to feed on gums: Temporal patterns of gummivory in wild tamarins,Saguinus mystaxand Saguinus fuscicollis(Callitrichinae)

“…Most tamarin species studied so far feed regularly on gums exuding from wounds of the bark of trees, palms, and lianas [Hladik and Hladik, 1969;Izawa, 1978;Terborgh, 1983;Garber, 1984Garber, , 1988Soini, 1987;Ramirez, 1989;Egler, 1992;Peres, 1993;Hardie, 1995;Power and Oftedal, 1996], although their proportion in the overall diet is low when compared to specialized gum and sap feeders like marmosets (Callithrix sp.) and pygmy marmosets (Cebuella pygmaea).…”