The Sensory Ecology of Foraging for Animal Prey

Siemers, Björn Martin

doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-4511-1_28

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…In another set of studies, it has been shown that mouse lemurs are able, based solely on olfactory cues, to detect both fruits and invertebrate prey hidden under opaque lids. However, success rates were much higher for fruits, approximating 100% . Capuchin monkeys, which were reported to use their sense of smell when choosing fruits 64 , failed to locate invertebrates from close proximity when only olfactory cues were available in captive conditions .…”

Section: Which Ecological Niches Favor Reliance On Olfaction?mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…However, success rates were much higher for fruits, approximating 100%. 57 , 77 , 78 Capuchin monkeys, which were reported to use their sense of smell when choosing fruits 64 , failed to locate invertebrates from close proximity when only olfactory cues were available in captive conditions. 79 Capuchins were also shown to have higher olfactory discrimination capacity for fruity (as opposed to fishy) odors, thus indicating that their sense of smell is particularly tuned to fruity stimuli.…”

Section: Which Ecological Niches Favor Reliance On Olfaction?mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Led by the nose: Olfaction in primate feeding ecology

Nevo¹,

Heymann²

2015

Evolutionary Anthropology

104

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Olfaction, the sense of smell, was a latecomer to the systematic investigation of primate sensory ecology after long years in which it was considered to be of minor importance.1 This view shifted with the growing understanding of its role in social behavior2 and the accumulation of physiological studies demonstrating that the olfactory abilities of some primates are on a par with those of olfactory-dependent mammals such as dogs and rodents.3,4 Recent years have seen a proliferation of physiological, behavioral, anatomical, and genetic investigations of primate olfaction. These investigations have begun to shed light on the importance of olfaction in the process of food acquisition. However, integration of these works has been limited. It is therefore still difficult to pinpoint large-scale evolutionary scenarios, namely the functions that the sense of smell fulfills in primates’ feeding ecology and the ecological niches that favor heavier reliance on olfaction. Here, we review available behavioral and physiological studies of primates in the field or captivity and try to elucidate how and when the sense of smell can help them acquire food.

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Section: Which Ecological Niches Favor Reliance On Olfaction?mentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Which Ecological Niches Favor Reliance On Olfaction?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Led by the nose: Olfaction in primate feeding ecology

Nevo¹,

Heymann²

2015

Evolutionary Anthropology

104

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“…Gray mouse lemurs exhibit the broadest distribution of all known 24 mouse lemur species ( Hotaling et al, 2016 ), adapting to various ecological settings in the dry deciduous forests of western Madagascar. They forage solitarily in their dense and three dimensional environments, but also form long-term kin-related social networks ( Kessler et al, 2016 ), relying strongly on acoustic and olfactory cues for prey and predator detection ( Scheumann, Rabesandratana & Zimmermann, 2007 ; Fichtel, 2012 ; Siemers, 2013 ) and social communication and decision making ( Braune, Schmidt & Zimmermann, 2008 ; Kessler et al, 2012 ; Zimmermann, 2016 ). Gray mouse lemurs are highly vocal and exhibit an elaborate vocal repertoire ( Zimmermann, 2016 ; Zimmermann, in press ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moderate evidence for a Lombard effect in a phylogenetically basal primate

Schopf

Schmidt

Zimmermann

2016

PeerJ

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When exposed to enhanced background noise, humans avoid signal masking by increasing the amplitude of the voice, a phenomenon termed the Lombard effect. This auditory feedback-mediated voice control has also been found in monkeys, bats, cetaceans, fish and some frogs and birds. We studied the Lombard effect for the first time in a phylogenetically basal primate, the grey mouse lemur, Microcebus murinus. When background noise was increased, mouse lemurs were able to raise the amplitude of the voice, comparable to monkeys, but they did not show this effect consistently across context/individuals. The Lombard effect, even if representing a generic vocal communication system property of mammals, may thus be affected by more complex mechanisms. The present findings emphasize an effect of context, and individual, and the need for further standardized approaches to disentangle the multiple system properties of mammalian vocal communication, important for understanding the evolution of the unique human faculty of speech and language.

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“…In another set of studies, mouse lemurs have been shown to be able to detect both fruits and invertebrate prey hidden under opaque lids based solely olfactory cues, but success rates were much higher for fruits and approximated 100% (Siemers et al 2007;Piep et al 2008;Siemers 2013). Capuchin monkeys, who were reported to employ their sense of smell when choosing fruits (Melin et al 2009), fail to locate invertebrates from close proximity when only olfactory cues are available in captive conditions (Phillips et al 2004).…”

Section: Dietary Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Chemical Ecology of Primate Seed Dispersal

Nevo¹

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Many tropical angiosperms rely on frugivores for seed dispersal and evolved fleshy fruits to attract them. Although both sides of the interaction are generalists, frugivores do not feed on the full range of fruit species in their habitats and angiosperms rely on the dispersal services of only a share of the frugivore community. This observation led to the "Dispersal Syndrome Hypothesis", which postulates that over time fruits evolve to specialize on certain guilds of frugivorous seed dispersers and consequently their traits evolve in response to the dietary and sensory capacities of their main dispersal agents.Fruit traits such as size, seed size and husk thickness have been shown to be malleable to selection pressures exerted by their main seed-dispersal vectors. Additionally, due to competition for dispersal services and the need to promote consumption of ripe fruits and thus dispersal of mature seeds, fruits are also under selection pressures to provide reliable signals for ripeness. A prime example is fruit color, which has evolved independently in many bird-dispersed species to signal ripeness and possibly nutrient content. Fruit odor, similarly, has been speculated to be a signaling system between plants and frugivores with elaborated olfactory capabilities, but this has only recently received support in figs (genus Ficus) dispersed by bats. Yet data are still restricted to the narrow bat-fig model system and it is not clear whether fruit olfactory signaling has evolved in other plant genera and in the communication with other taxa, and thus indeed a recurring component of some Dispersal Syndromes.Primates are one of the most important seed dispersal vectors in the tropics. Until recently, their olfactory capabilities were considered low and thus irrelevant for the study of their feeding ecology.This view has been utterly revisited over the past years and primates are now known to possess high olfactory capacities. Therefore, under the framework of the Dispersal Syndrome Hypothesis, it is likely that fruits whose seeds they disperse evolved olfactory signals for ripeness, too. This thesis explores the evolution and functions of fruit aroma in the communication between primates and plants. The first chapter is a theoretical review regarding the roles of olfaction in primate feeding ecology. It concludes, based on available behavioral works, that frugivory is the

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The Sensory Ecology of Foraging for Animal Prey

Cited by 6 publications

References 35 publications

Led by the nose: Olfaction in primate feeding ecology

Led by the nose: Olfaction in primate feeding ecology

Moderate evidence for a Lombard effect in a phylogenetically basal primate

The Chemical Ecology of Primate Seed Dispersal

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