| Picky, Picky: The Bases For Diet Choice in Pitheciins Barnett, A.A., E.Z. Setz, L.P. Pinto, A. Di Fiore, J. Vié & E. Fernandez-Duque Pitheciins are highly selective feeders, often traveling long distances to feed on particular fruits and/or displaying strong preferences for some diet items, while incorporating others at natural encounter rates. Here, for Pithecia, Chiropotes and Cacajao, we examine how ecological factors such as patch size and habitat-wide resource availability influence foraging behavior. In Chiropotes albinasus, food-patch size determines feeding pattern, with intense and prolonged feeding occurring in dense food patches and fast opportunistic bouts (mostly during travel) occurring in small-dispersed patches. Pithecia appears to be more opportunistic, with different populations showing distinct diet programmes. The foraging strategy of Pithecia pithecia, for example, varies seasonally, with extended feeding on small trees in times of fruit scarcity with short yet productive feeding bouts in large trees during times of abundance. In Cacajao melanocephalus ouakary, feeding patch size interacts with seasonal food availability characteristic of flood plain forest environments to influence diet choice, but fruit chemistry and physical characteristics of fruits also play a role. Combining data from representative on-going studies on each pitheciin genus, we consider cause-and-effect behind dietary preferences, and analyze roles of seasonal availability, patch size, canopy architecture, handling time, seed defences, and nutritional rewards in influencing foraging strategies and diet choice. We also call attention to regional variation in diet and consider the factors underlying this variation. voltar a programação do simpósio |