Food transfers in wild and reintroduced golden lion tamarins,Leontopithecus rosalia

Food sharing in black lion tamarins (Leontopithecus chrysopygus)

“…We predict that in the wild, where a large proportion of the diet of lion tamarins is made up of invertebrate and vertebrate prey which require practice and skill to locate and capture [Kleiman et al, 1986;Peres, 1989;Rylands, 1989;Carvalho et al, 1989;Passos, 1992Passos, , 1997Valladares-Padua & Prado, 1996;Albernaz, 1997;Dietz et al, 1997], the proportion of food received from others would be higher. This is supported by Passos [1992,1997], who reported frequent sharing of large prey (e.g., frogs and beetles) with infants in wild black lion tamarins, and also by data from golden lion tamarins [Ruiz-Miranda et al, 1999] showing that 51% of transferred items were prey, including orthoptera, phasmids, amphibians, and lizards. These high quality items are difficult for infants to acquire without assistance, because infants are both physically immature (prey items may be relatively large and "strong") and inexperienced (some prey items require practice and skill for effective location and capture).…”

“…These high quality items are difficult for infants to acquire without assistance, because infants are both physically immature (prey items may be relatively large and "strong") and inexperienced (some prey items require practice and skill for effective location and capture). Ruiz-Miranda et al [1999] also noted that 12% of fruit transfers were of large fruits that had tough skins or were difficult to remove from the branch. Thus where there is a high dependence on "difficult" food items in the diet, physically immature, inexperienced infants may only have access to them through sharing and, in particular, offering.…”

“…Various hypotheses to explain the function of food sharing have been explored elsewhere [see Price & Feistner, 1993;Rapaport, 1997;Ruiz-Miranda et al, 1999], but a common finding is that food sharing appears to be important in making sure that infants receive items that are rare or difficult to obtain or process. Lion tamarins are highly manipulative, extractive foragers [Rylands, 1989;Thomas, 1995] with morphological specializations to their hands [Hershkovitz, 1997], and they feed on a high proportion of insect and vertebrate prey [Albernaz, 1997;Dietz et al, 1997]-resources that would be difficult for inexperienced and immature tamarins to obtain, yet are high quality items rich in protein and fats [e.g., Barker et al, 1998].…”

Begging, Stealing, and Offering: Food Transfer in Nonhuman Primates

“…Two main sets of hypotheses have been put forward for the mechanisms by which infant growth or survival may be enhanced by food transfer (McGrew, 1975;Silk, 1978;Lefebvre, 1985;Price and Feistner, 1993;Rapaport, 1999;Ruiz-Miranda et al, 1999). The transfer of food may: 1) provide nutrients to infants during the period of weaning when they are susceptible to food shortage or, more generally, while they develop as independent foragers -nutritional hypotheses, and 2) play a role in the acquisition of knowledge about diet choices and food processing skills -informational hypotheses.…”

“…An individual looks at, touches or sniffs a food item de Waal et al, 1993; that is in the possession of another individual Perry & Rose, 1994;Wrangham, 1975 Beg An individual exhibits specific posture (eg extended upturned Feistner & Price, 1990; hand) or specific vocalisation while showing interest Attempted transfer An individual attempts to take a portion of a food item Brown et al, 2004 Transfer / provision Any situation in which part or all of the food item changes Brown & Mack, 1978; possession from one individual to another Blurton Jones, 1987 Displacement An individual moves into the feeding position vacated Yamagiwa, 1992; by another individual Resist An individual attempts to prevent transfer by moving or Brown and Mack, 1978; turning away, or by vocal or physical aggression or threat Steal Food transfer occurs despite resistance by the possessor Hoage, 1982;Ruiz-Miranda et al, 1999 Offer A food possessor passes food to another individual or Brown & Mack, 1978; adopts a specific posture and/or vocalises Hoage, 1982;Feistner &Chamove, 1986 Retrieve An individual takes food that another individual has Boesch & Boesch, 1989 dropped on the ground or placed there…”