Feeding postural behaviors and food geometric and material properties in bearded capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus)

Abstract

Objectives: Foods that are geometrically and mechanically challenging to eat have been associated with specializations in feeding behavior and craniodental morphology across primates, and many of these foods are embedded, requiring a variety of positional behaviors during feeding. However, variation in positional behaviors in response to food properties is not well understood. Here, we examine differences in feeding postural behaviors across feeding events in relation to substrate and food geometric and material properties in a species of extractive foragers, bearded capuchins (Sapajus libidinosus). Methods and materials:We coded over 1400 co-occurring postural and feeding behaviors, their durations, and relative sizes of substrate and food from videos recorded at Fazenda Boa Vista in Gilbués, Piauí, Brazil. Food material properties were measured from foods collected at the time of the video recordings.Results: Our results suggest that bearded capuchin feeding postures significantly differ across the feeding sequence, with substrate size, and between foods of high and low toughness and elastic modulus. Feeding postures were less variable for highly

Effects of food material properties and embedded status on food processing efficiency in bearded capuchins

“…In addition, foods requiring high forces to initiate fracture, regardless of embedded status, may constrain behavioral flexibility, such that a few, specific behaviors are routinely employed to process these foods. This is consistent with Laird et al (2020, 2022) who found certain ingestive and postural behaviors are more common with mechanically challenging foods. Robust capuchins may have a limited suite of manual and ingestive behaviors in their repertoire that they can employ to effectively fracture foods with high FMPs.…”

“…In addition, foods requiring high forces to initiate fracture, regardless of embedded status, may constrain behavioral flexibility, such that a few, specific behaviors are routinely employed to process these foods. This is consistent with Laird et al (2020Laird et al ( , 2022 fracture foods with high FMPs. In this way, FMPs and embedded status may play a significant role in shaping inter and intraspecific food processing behaviors (Visalberghi et al, 2016;Wright et al, 2009).…”

“…With few exceptions, the relationships among behavioral duration or frequency and age and FMPs did not appear in individual food groups, indicating that select food groups were not driving the relationship in the full datasets. However, feeding behaviors are likely food‐specific (Laird et al, 2020; Laird et al, 2022; McGraw et al, 2011; Ungar, 1994), and other food properties not captured by our food groups, such as food size or texture, may play an important role in influencing processing efficiency (Dominy, Lucas, Osorio, & Yamashita, 2001; Foegeding et al, 2011; Vinyard, Thompson, Doherty, & Robl, 2016).…”

“…With few exceptions, the relationships among behavioral duration or frequency and age and FMPs did not appear in individual food groups, indicating that select food groups were not driving the relationship in the full datasets. However, feeding behaviors are likely food-specific (Laird et al, 2020;Laird et al, 2022;McGraw et al, 2011;Ungar, 1994), and…”

Oral Processing of Three Guenon Species in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire

“…Processing this fruit induces repeated loads on L. catta’s thin-enameled teeth, as they repeatedly bite the pod to induce cracking; this is likely a significant contributor to high rates of dental wear and tooth loss in this L. catta population [ 32 ]. Observations of the ingestive behaviors and mechanical properties of foods eaten by Sapajust libidinosus in Brazil [ 33 , 34 , 35 ] coupled with captive research on mandibular strain and muscle fiber architecture in this species [ 36 , 37 ] suggest that ingestive behaviors, particularly those related to high mandibular strain, are important pressures on craniodental morphology in robust capuchin monkeys. Dental and cranial traits of Gorilla gorilla gorilla , including thick enamel and increased molar-shearing crests, are generally assumed to facilitate the processing of tough, fracture-resistant foods such as leaves and fibrous vegetation [ 38 ].…”