Abstract:ABSTRACT. With respect to prey selectivity and predation frequency, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) show local differences as well as diachronic variability within the same population. When data on predation from three long-term studies at Mahale, Gombe, and Tai are compared, some differences and similarities emerge; Mahale is more like Gombe than Tai in regard of prey selection but features of hunting at Tai with respect to predation frequency are not conspicuous. The most responsible factor for diversity in… Show more
“…Chimpanzees prey most frequently upon red colobus monkeys (Procolobus spp.) at all sites where the two species are present (Uehara 1997;Boesch and Boesch-Achermann 2000;Mitani and Watts 2001). To date, the precise nutritional significance of meat for chimpanzees is unknown.…”
A common explanation for hunting in groups is that doing so yields a greater per capita caloric benefit than hunting solitarily. This is logical for social carnivores, which rely exclusively on meat for energy, but arguably not for omnivores, which obtain calories from either plant or animal matter. The common chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes, is one of the few true omnivores that regularly hunts in groups. Studies to date have yielded conflicting data regarding the payoffs of group hunting in chimpanzees. Here, we interpret chimpanzee hunting patterns using a new approach. In contrast to the classical assumption that hunting with others maximizes per capita caloric intake, we propose that group hunting is favored because it maximizes an individual's likelihood of obtaining important micronutrients that may be found in small quantities of meat. We describe a mathematical model demonstrating that group hunting may evolve when individuals can obtain micronutrients more frequently by hunting in groups than by hunting solitarily, provided that group size is below a certain threshold. Twenty five years of data from Gombe National Park, Tanzania are consistent with this prediction.We propose that our 'meat-scrap' hypothesis is a unifying approach that may explain group hunting by chimpanzees and other social omnivores.
“…Chimpanzees prey most frequently upon red colobus monkeys (Procolobus spp.) at all sites where the two species are present (Uehara 1997;Boesch and Boesch-Achermann 2000;Mitani and Watts 2001). To date, the precise nutritional significance of meat for chimpanzees is unknown.…”
A common explanation for hunting in groups is that doing so yields a greater per capita caloric benefit than hunting solitarily. This is logical for social carnivores, which rely exclusively on meat for energy, but arguably not for omnivores, which obtain calories from either plant or animal matter. The common chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes, is one of the few true omnivores that regularly hunts in groups. Studies to date have yielded conflicting data regarding the payoffs of group hunting in chimpanzees. Here, we interpret chimpanzee hunting patterns using a new approach. In contrast to the classical assumption that hunting with others maximizes per capita caloric intake, we propose that group hunting is favored because it maximizes an individual's likelihood of obtaining important micronutrients that may be found in small quantities of meat. We describe a mathematical model demonstrating that group hunting may evolve when individuals can obtain micronutrients more frequently by hunting in groups than by hunting solitarily, provided that group size is below a certain threshold. Twenty five years of data from Gombe National Park, Tanzania are consistent with this prediction.We propose that our 'meat-scrap' hypothesis is a unifying approach that may explain group hunting by chimpanzees and other social omnivores.
“…However, less prevalent in the zooarchaeological literature are taphonomic test criteria for recognizing early hominin hunting and consumption of small prey. Chimpanzee dietary behavior can inform this argument because although chimpanzees have been observed to occasionally scavenge (Hasegawa et al, 1983;Nishida, 1994;Muller et al, 1995), they acquire most of their meat by hunting (Uehara, 1997;Stanford, 1998;Mitani and Watts, 1999;Boesch and Boesch-Achermann, 2000), and therefore may provide an example of the bony assemblage produced by a primate that hunts small-sized vertebrate prey.…”
Section: Chimpanzees As a Model For Pre-technological Homininsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Studies of chimpanzee hunting behavior in the wild have yielded considerable information about prey selection and hunting participation, frequency, and success (e.g., Uehara, 1997;Stanford, 1998;Mitani and Watts, 1999;Boesch and Boesch-Achermann, 2000;Watts and Mitani, 2002). Chimpanzees hunt vertebrate prey everywhere that they have been studied in any detail (Uehara, 1997; Table 1).…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Chimpanzees hunt vertebrate prey everywhere that they have been studied in any detail (Uehara, 1997; Table 1). While 38 species of Table 1recorded Kawanaka, 1982;Takahata et al, 1984).…”
“…Aggressive behaviors of chimpanzees toward another species have been observed during hunting 1 , counterattack against a predator 2,3 , and cross-species play or playful teasing 2,4 . The threat-like displays observed in this study were not considered hunting attempts, since there is no record of chimpanzees hunting porcupines 1 and the displays were not as vigorous or the chimpanzees as excited as during genuine hunting.…”
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