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Behavioral Ecology Advance Access originally published online on May 19, 2009
Behavioral Ecology 2009 20(4):685-690; doi:10.1093/beheco/arp021
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Protein content of diets dictates the daily energy intake of a free-ranging primate

Annika M. Feltona,b, Adam Feltona,b, David Raubenheimerc,d, Stephen J. Simpsone, William J. Foleyf, Jeff T. Wooda, Ian R. Wallisf and David B. Lindenmayera

a Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia b Institituto Boliviano de Investigación Forestal, PO Box 6204, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia c Institute of Natural Sciences, Massey University, Albany, Private Bag 102 904, Auckland, New Zealand d New Zealand Institute for Advanced Study, Massey University, Albany, Private Bag 102 904, Auckland, New Zealand e School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney NSW 2006, Australia f School of Botany and Zoology, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia

Address correspondence to A.M. Felton. E-mail: annika.felton{at}anu.edu.au. A. Felton is now at the Southern Swedish Forest Research Center, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 230 53 Alnarp, Sweden.


  Abstract

An important goal in nutritional ecology is to understand what governs the diet selection of free-living animals. Relevant information is however scarce because of the considerable challenges of collecting and interpreting such data. Here we use recent advances in nutritional theory to analyze data on food selection and nutrient intake by wild spider monkeys (Ateles chamek). We show that hypotheses traditionally used to explain vertebrate diet selection, such as energy or protein maximization, or avoidance of plant secondary metabolites, cannot explain the observed pattern of nutrient intake. Instead, spider monkeys maintained a stable daily protein intake but allowed total energy intake to vary as a function of the composition of available food items. A similar "protein-leverage effect" has been reported in humans for whom it appears to play a role in the development of obesity.

Key words: Ateles chamek, nutrient balancing, nutritional ecology, primates, protein.

Received 3 September 2008; revised 6 November 2008; accepted 10 November 2008.


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