Seasonal Changes in the Techniques Employed by Wild Chimpanzees in the Mahale Mountains, Tanzania, to Feed on Termites (Pseudacanthotermes spiniger)

Abstract

During a short period, wild chimpanzees of group K in the Mahale Mountains employ a set of several techniques, including tool use, to feed on one species of termite (Pseudacanthotermes spiniger). They appear to use each technique appropriately according to phenological changes in the prey insect’s activities. The chimpanzees also ingest small pieces of soil from the tower of P. spiniger’s mound throughout the year. Geophagy presumably makes them visually and tactually aware of the phenological changes of the termite’s reproductive cycle. Analyses of fecal samples from the chimpanzees indicate interannual fluctuations in the amount of termites ingested. On the other hand, the chimpanzees of group B, ranging to the north of group K, utilize a fishing technique to obtain another type of termite (Macrotermes ?herus) on a large scale during the first half of the wet season. Fecal analysis data show that chimpanzees of group B consume far more termites than those of group K. The probability that the same or similar tool-using techniques as fishing may be employed in feeding on different types of insects by chimpanzees of different unit groups according to subtle local differences in the insect fauna of their home ranges is discussed.

Geophagy in the golden-faced saki monkey (Pithecia pithecia chrysocephala) in the Central Amazon

“…Sodium content was lower in our samples than in soil ingested by other primates (Hladik, 1977a, 1977b, Mahaney, Watts et al, 1990 and soil samples from salt licks (Weeks & Kirkpatrick, 1976;Emmons & Stark, 1979). Soil samples ingested by chimpanzees in the wet season in Gabon had higher quantities of potassium (and calcium) than their diet (Hladik, 1977b;Uehara, 1982).…”

Tool Use and Tool Making in Wild Chimpanzees

“…Chimpanzees seem to restrict their termite-fishing technique to one species (Macrotermes subhyalinus) [5,9,20], except for one observation on Pseudacanthotermes spiniger [6], These species are re stricted to the savanna area and are absent in the Ta'i forest. Tat chimpanzees were never observed to fish for any termite species, al though they feed on 5 species of termites without the help of tools (Macrotermes ivorensis are present but, with openings meters away, possess a very different structure of their underground mounds than M. subhya linus and my own efforts to fish them were never successful).…”

“…(2) Comparing them with observations made on wild chim panzees in the Mahale Mountains National Park [3][4][5][6] and in the Gombe Stream Na tional Park [2,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13], These latter two sites are located in a savanna/woodland region. (3) Trying to understand some of the factors affecting tool use and tool making by wild chimpanzees.…”

Quantifying seasonal fallback on invertebrates, pith, and bromeliad leaves by white‐faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) in a tropical dry forest

“…For example, chimpanzees modify and use stick tools to extract termites (Sanz et al, 2004;Wright et al, 2009;Yamagiwa and Basabose, 2009) and different tools to obtain pith and leaves (Malenky and Wrangham, 1994;Wrangham et al, 1998;Yamakoshi, 1998;Basabose, 2002). Modern chimpanzees extract invertebrates regularly (Uehara 1982;Nishida and Uehara 1983;Sanz et al, 2004;Sch€ oning et al, 2008;Bogart and Pruetz, 2010;O'Malley and Power, 2014), and may fall back on them when ripe fruits are scarce (Yamagiwa and Basabose, 2009). In this study, we focus on another lineage of large-brained, tool-using primates with high levels of sensorimotor cognition-capuchin monkeys (Parker and Gibson, 1977;Ottoni and Izar, 2008).…”