Regresar

Effect of seasonality on the feeding behavior of martins' bare-faced tamarin saguinus martinsi martinsi (primates: Callitrichidae) in the brazilian amazon

Abstract:

Little is known of the ecology of Saguinus martinsi martinsi (Callitrichidae), native to the Brazilian Amazon. In this study, we present information on its diet, and investigate seasonal changes in the feeding ecology of a group at the core of its restricted range in the Saracá-Taquera National Forest in the municipality of Oriximiná, state of Pará, Brazil. We followed the group between May 2013 and April 2014 and collected data using scan sampling, with one-minute scans every 10 minutes. This resulted in 3,230 scans equivalent to 518 hours of observation. The group's diet was composed mainly of fruits (84.5%). Those of Byrsonima crispa were the most exploited in terms of time spent feeding (20%). An average of 10 trees in fruit were visited per day in the rainy season and eight per day in the dry season. The average time spent in any tree where they were feeding was seven minutes and 32 seconds (range 1-43 minutes) overall but was shorter in the dry season than in the rainy season. More plant species were included in the diet in the wet season (41) than in the dry season (24). The scarcity of fruit in the dry season affected the dietetic diversity of the group; they exploited fewer species for fruit (and principally Byrsonima crispa and Cecropia sp.) and turned to Parkia gum as a fallback.