ANT 322 Primate Biology and Behavior

Food: Quality, Distribution and Availability, Diet and Behavior

· Foraging: definition; how much time is spent on this activity?

· In what way does the distribution of food across time and space affect primate social organization?

· How is female reproductive success affected by food? What aspects of reproduction are affected by food and why?

· Food quality: define high quality and low quality foods, growth diets, subsistence foods, and fallback foods.

· Know in general:

o Carbohydrates and lipids are found in fruits, a basic source of caloric energy

o No primate can survive on fruit alone—leaves and insects provide necessary amino acids

o Proteins are broken down into amino acids for the body’s use

o Aside from fruits, leaves, insects, and nuts/seeds, what else do primates eat?

· You do not need to know about secondary compounds, tannins or alkaloids

· Zoopharmacognosy: definition

· Which sex has the higher quality diets and why?

· Food patches: definition; how are high and low quality foods distributed?

· Foraging efficiency, feeding parties: definition

· Torpor: definition; common in some species of Cheirogalidae (small lemurs)

· Mast fruiting: definition; what do ketones reveal?