Abstract: The first comprehensive field study of wild spider monkeys was undertaken in Panama in the early 1930s by C. R. Carpenter. In discussing the diet of Ateles geoffroyi, Carpenter (1935) wrote, "Red spider monkeys have been classed correctly as frugivorous. It is estimated that about 90 percent of their food consists of fruit or nuts" (p. 174). Since that time, field studies of wild Ateles have consistently confirmed Carpenter's early assessment of the highly frugivorous diet of spider monkeys, to the point where they are now treated as a classic example of a frugivorous primate and are often considered to be "ripe fruit specialists" (Cant, 1977; Klein and Klein, 1977; van Roosmalen, 1985; van Roosmalen and Klein, 1988; Cant, 1990; Dew, 2005; Wallace, 2005; Di Fiore and Campbell, 2007). In this chapter, we first review what is known of the diet of wild Ateles, paying particular attention to data from long-term ecological studies. In doing so, we address the physiological and morphological adaptations for frugivory that spider monkeys have evolved, as well as the connections among diet, food resource distribution and foraging behavior that are relevant to understanding the characteristic "fission–fusion" social organization of Ateles.
Publication Year: 2008
Publication Date: 2008-09-25
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 135
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot