Meissner corpuscles and somatosensory acuity: The prehensile appendages of primates and elephants

Hoffmann, Joscelyn N.; Montag, Anthony; Dominy, Nathaniel J.

doi:10.1002/ar.a.20119

Cited by 107 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…Our finding of an increase in the use of touch when the fruit was ripe supports earlier assertions that touch is an important mechanism to inspect fruit before consumption , Hoffmann et al 2004. The sense of touch can be used to distinguish the size, shape, hardness and texture of a fruit , which change in most fruits during ripeness.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

The role of sucrose and sensory systems in fruit selection and consumption ofAteles geoffroyiin Yucatan, Mexico

et al. 2015

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Our aim was to evaluate the role of sucrose and the role of smell, taste and touch in the selection and consumption of fruit in wild spider monkeys. We recorded the feeding bouts of 14 adults for 9 mo in the Otoch Ma'ax Yetel Kooh Reserve, Punta Laguna, Yucatan, Mexico. For each of 2346 inspections on fruits of six species the consumption or rejection and the use of touch, smell and taste was recorded. Ten fruit samples (five ripe and five unripe) from each species were collected and the sucrose concentration was determined with a refractometer. As expected, sucrose concentrations were higher in ripe than unripe fruits. The difference in sucrose concentration between ripe and unripe fruits was positively associated with the proportion of attempts on ripe fruits and the proportion of consumed ripe fruits. Furthermore, the senses of touch and taste were used more often when fruits were ripe, whereas the sense of smell was used more often when fruits were unripe. The results suggest that sensory cues and sucrose concentration play important roles in fruit selection in spider monkeys.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

The role of sucrose and sensory systems in fruit selection and consumption ofAteles geoffroyiin Yucatan, Mexico

et al. 2015

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“…The high sensitivity that squirrel monkeys and spider monkeys demonstrated for food-associated olfactory [Hernandez Salazar et al, 2003;Laska & Seibt, 2002a, b;Laska et al, 2003bLaska et al, , 2006 and gustatory [Laska, 1997[Laska, , 1999Laska et al, 1996Laska et al, , 2001] stimuli, and the extraordinary acuity that nonhuman primates display with oral and manual tactile stimuli [Hoffmann et al, 2004;Kaas & Pons, 1988] support the assumption that chemosensory and somatosensory cues are critical for the evaluation of novel food in these two (and probably other) primate species.…”

Section: Use Of Senses In Primate Food Selection / 289mentioning

confidence: 87%

Which senses play a role in nonhuman primate food selection? A comparison between squirrel monkeys and spider monkeys

Laska¹,

Freist²,

Krause³

2006

American J Primatol

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In order to optimize foraging efficiency and avoid toxicosis, animals must be able to detect, discriminate, and learn about the predictive signals of potential food. Primates are typically regarded as animals that rely mainly on their highly developed visual systems, and little is known about the role that the other senses may play in food selection. It was therefore the aim of the present study to assess which senses are involved in the evaluation of food by two species of New World primates: the squirrel monkey and the spider monkey. To this end, six animals per species were repeatedly presented with both familiar and novel food items, and their behavior was videotaped and analyzed. To obtain a further indication of the relative importance of visual and chemosensory cues, the animals were also presented with familiar food items that were experimentally modified in color, odor, or both color and odor. The results demonstrate that squirrel monkeys and spider monkeys use olfactory, gustatory, and tactile cues in addition to visual information to evaluate novel food, whereas they mainly inspect familiar food items visually prior to consumption. Our findings also show that in both species the use of nonvisual cues decreased rapidly with repeated presentations of novel food, suggesting a fast multimodal learning process. Further, the two species clearly differ in their relative use of nonvisual cues when evaluating novel or modified food, with spider monkeys relying more on olfactory cues than squirrel monkeys, and squirrel monkeys relying more on tactile cues compared to spider monkeys.

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“…Although an enhanced tactile sensitivity on slender locomotor substrates probably conferred strong selective pressures to primate ancestors, the dispersion of MCs in anthropoid digits raises the possibility of a more specialized coopted function. Hoffmann et al (2004) suggest that the high density of MCs could be related to fruit selection. Softening texture is a salient sensory cue during fruit development and perceiving the textural properties of fruits haptically may provide a rapid means of discerning edibility (Dominy, 2004).…”

Section: Touchmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Compellingly, primates are reported to palpate fruits during foraging. Accordingly, Hoffmann et al (2004) examined the digital density of MCs in five anthropoid taxa selected to represent diverse dietary regimes. Results show that greater MC density correlates with the extent to which anthropoids are frugivorous, but locomoter and phylogenetic effects could not be discounted.…”

Section: Touchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of the special senses in primates: Past, present, and future

2004

Self Cite

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The present special issue of The Anatomical Record is the result of a symposium entitled Evolution of the Special Senses in Primates. Considered together, the special senses of primates are remarkable because they constitute a singular and definitive suite of mammalian characteristics. Examining their evolution is pivotal for understanding the origin and present-day variation of primate behavior and ecology. Accordingly, the 14 articles assembled here consider the different constraints and opportunities associated with the uptake and use of physical and chemical stimuli. The present issue brings together experts on different primate sensory modalities and stresses events at the sensory periphery, where the organism is exposed to and comes into contact with its environment. Key topics include color vision, the genetics of olfaction, the morphological basis and significance of chemical communication, and the neural organization and scaling of primate sensory systems. The result is a special issue that both reflects our current understanding of primate sensory modalities and challenges certain fundamental assumptions concerning their evolution. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Key words: audition; gustation; olfaction; touch; vision; vomeronasalThis special issue of The Anatomical Record is the result of a symposium held during the 73rd annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists. The symposium was the suggestion of Timothy D. Smith; the conveners were Nathaniel J. Dominy, Callum F. Ross, and Timothy D. Smith. It was presented in Tampa, Florida, on 17 April 2004. The title of the symposium and the present issue is Evolution of the Special Senses in Primates. We focus on primate special senses (vision, audition, olfaction, and gustation) for the same reasons the topic has already received much attention (Le Gros Clark, 1959;Noback, 1978;Martin, 1990)-because humans are primates and because there is a unique complexity in the expression of primate special senses. Two contributions to this issue consider the evolution of somatosensation, which also bears pivotal importance to the origin of Primates.Senses represent the anatomical interface between the environment and the behaving organism. The 14 articles assembled here emphasize the constraints and opportunities associated with sensing environmental information. The articles also examine the selective pressures in the evolution and behavioral ecology of primates; after all, the survival and reproductive success of an organism depends on the acquisition of sensory stimuli. In this regard, primates do not eat or reproduce with whatever is available; instead, they show considerable selectivity. A mixture of many analytically separable factors is locked together in a potential food resource or mate. These factors can be conveniently differentiated into two broad categories: physical and chemical. Accordingly, the following synopsis describes the contributions of the present special issue to our understanding of primate sensory systems within the...

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Meissner corpuscles and somatosensory acuity: The prehensile appendages of primates and elephants

Cited by 107 publications

References 90 publications

The role of sucrose and sensory systems in fruit selection and consumption ofAteles geoffroyiin Yucatan, Mexico

The role of sucrose and sensory systems in fruit selection and consumption ofAteles geoffroyiin Yucatan, Mexico

Which senses play a role in nonhuman primate food selection? A comparison between squirrel monkeys and spider monkeys

Evolution of the special senses in primates: Past, present, and future

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