Pavelka Mary S M, Knopff Kyle Houston
Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive N.W., Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada.
Primates. 2004 Apr;45(2):105-11. doi: 10.1007/s10329-003-0072-6. Epub 2004 Jan 21.
This study reports on the diet and activity budgets of Central American black howling monkeys ( Alouatta pigra) at Monkey River, Belize. This is a previously unstudied population, close to the southern boundary of the species range, and it provides comparative data on A. pigra from a new study site. Both diet and activity are within the ranges reported for other A.pigra sites and for mantled howlers ( A. palliata). No age-sex differences could be discerned in either diet or activity, though monthly variation was apparent. The monkeys switch from consuming leaves 86% of the time in January to March to consuming 67% fruit in April to July. This difference was statistically significant, and provided the opportunity to compare activity levels of the monkeys over two dietary periods, one characterized primarily by folivory, the other by frugivory. Howlers are often seen as a relatively inactive species, something that is associated with a low quality, folivorous diet. However, A. pigra have been described as being as frugivorous as possible and as folivorous as necessary. Yet, despite the opportunistic consumption of large quantities of high-energy foods, A. pigra has been observed as conforming to the howler lifestyle, resting as much as 80% of the day. The data in this paper support both of these reports. Black howlers at Monkey River Belize are typically inactive, maintaining high levels of inactivity even during months characterized by frugivory, suggesting that diet is more flexible and varied than is behavior and calling into question the assumption that howler inactivity is due to the digestion of large quantities of leaves.
本研究报告了伯利兹猴河地区中美洲黑吼猴（Alouatta pigra）的饮食和活动预算。这是一个此前未被研究过的种群，靠近该物种分布范围的南部边界，它为来自一个新研究地点的中美吼猴提供了比较数据。饮食和活动都在其他中美吼猴地点以及鬃毛吼猴（Alouatta palliata）所报告的范围内。在饮食或活动方面，未发现年龄 - 性别差异，不过月度变化很明显。这些猴子在1月至3月期间86%的时间食用树叶，而在4月至7月则有67%的时间食用水果。这种差异具有统计学意义，这为比较猴子在两个饮食阶段的活动水平提供了机会，一个阶段主要以食叶为主，另一个阶段以食果为主。吼猴通常被视为相对不活跃的物种，这与低质量的食叶饮食有关。然而，中美吼猴被描述为尽可能食果，必要时食叶。然而，尽管它们机会性地食用大量高能量食物，但中美吼猴被观察到符合吼猴的生活方式，一天中多达80%的时间在休息。本文中的数据支持了这两个报告。伯利兹猴河地区的黑吼猴通常不活跃，即使在以食果为主的月份也保持着较高的不活动水平，这表明饮食比行为更灵活多样，也对吼猴不活动是由于消化大量树叶这一假设提出了质疑。
