The Diet and Feeding Behaviour of Cercopithecus aethiops tantalus

Abstract

The feeding behaviour of representative groups of tantalus monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops tantalus) was observed during 1974–1975 in three habitats in Cameroon. Observations took place during the wet and dry seasons in sahelian savannah, guinea savannah and farmed forest. The tantalus monkeys were similar to other races of C.aethiops that have been studied in that they were omnivorous and lacked any narrow specialisations of either diet or feeding techniques. The dietary range was similar in all three habitats, although considerable seasonal variation occurred. About one third of all feeding took place on the ground.

Variable Territoriality among Tantalus Monkeys in Cameroon

“…The locations and methodology that were used in this study have been described elsewhere [Kavanagh, 1977[Kavanagh, , 1978a], This section is therefore a summary. Bakossi (4'53'N,9 '4I'E).…”

“…No parallel situation was observed at Kalamaloue where abundant food appeared to be present [Kavanagh, 1978a]. Although the distribution of feeding behaviour was uneven throughout the range (table V), it became most concentrated in a small area (along the ridge) during a wet month (August) when Ficus and Celtis trees were heavily in fruit and much other potential plant food was available»throughout the site [Kavanagh, 1978a].…”

“…Only at Buffle Noir was there direct evidence to suggest the monkey population was food-limited. The dry season (February sample) was a period of dietary monotony with rapid switching to new resources as they became available and with a greater amount of time being spent in feeding (including searching for food) [Kavanagh, 1978a]. During the latter part of January and the beginning of Feb ruary, group VI spent several hours each morning and evening feeding exclusively on the flowers of Combretum paniculatum, a plant that was ignored when it flowered at Kalamaloue and which group VI ignored as soon as Celtis flowers became available.…”

“…Although the distribution of feeding behaviour was uneven throughout the range (table V), it became most concentrated in a small area (along the ridge) during a wet month (August) when Ficus and Celtis trees were heavily in fruit and much other potential plant food was available»throughout the site [Kavanagh, 1978a]. At Bakossi, it is possible that access to food was limited by predation and competition from man, as discussed below.…”

“…In the case of wide-ranging species, facultative variation in territoriality according to the defendability of resources is to be expected [Mitani and Rodman, 1979], as has been con firmed in Papio ursinus [Hamilton et al, 1976], Presbytis entellus [Jay, 1963;Yoshiba, 1968] and Colobus guereza [Dunbar and Dunbar, 1974;Oates, 1977], The African green monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops) ( fig. 1) is another wide-ranging species, occupying a variety of habitats ranging from arid savannah to lush forest and mangrove swamps [Dorst and Dandelot, 1972;Galat and Galat-Luong, 1976;Kavanagh, 1978a], As might be expected, they show variation in the extent to which they defend territory [Gartlan and Brain, 1968;Jolly, 1972], In this paper, I report studies of three populations of tantalus monkeys (C. a. tantalus), two of which showed territorial defence between groups and one of which did not. I attempt to identify the 'economic' factors [Brown, 1964] that make territoriality pay in one locality but not in another.…”