Rosenberger A L
Department of Zoological Research, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20008.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 1992 Aug;88(4):525-62. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330880408.
The adaptive radiation of modern New World monkeys unfolded as the major lineages diversified within different dietary-adaptive zones predicated upon a fundamentally frugivorous habit. The broad outlines of this pattern can be seen in the fossil record, beginning in the early Miocene. Cebids are obligate frugivorous predators. The smallest forms (Cebuella, Callithrix) are specialized exudativores, and the largest (cebines) are seasonally flexible omnivores, feeding particularly on insects (Saimiri) or "hard" foods, such as pith and palm nuts (Cebus), when resources are scarce. The smaller-bodied atelids (Callicebus, Aotus) may use insects or leaves opportunistically, but pitheciins (saki-uakaris) specialize on seeds as their major protein source. The larger atelines (Alouatta, Brachyteles) depend on leaves or on ripe fruit (Ateles). Locomotion, body size, and dietary adaptations are linked: claws and small body size opened the canopy-subcanopy niche to callitrichines; climbing and hanging, the fine-branch setting to the atelines; large size and strength, semiprehensile tails, and grasping thumbs, the extractive insectivory of Cebus; deliberate quadrupedalism, the energy-saving transport of folivorous Alouatta. Body size increases and decreases occurred often and in parallel within guilds and lineages. Conventional dietary categories, particularly frugivory, are inadequate for organizing the behavioral and anatomical evidence pertinent to evolutionary adaptation. Related models of morphological evolution based on feeding frequencies tend to obfuscate the selective importance of "critical functions," responses to the biomechanically challenging components of diet that may be determined by a numerically small, or seasonal, dietary fraction. For fossils, body size is an unreliable indicator of diet in the absence of detailed morphological information. More attention needs to be given to developing techniques for identifying and quantifying mechanically significant aspects of dental form, the physical properties of primate foods, their mode of access, and the cycles of availability and nutritional value.
现代新大陆猴的适应性辐射是随着主要谱系在基于基本食果习性的不同饮食适应区内多样化而展开的。这种模式的大致轮廓可以在化石记录中看到，始于中新世早期。卷尾猴科动物是专性食果性捕食者。体型最小的种类（倭狨属、狨属）是特化的食树液动物，而体型最大的（僧面猴亚科）是季节性灵活的杂食动物，在资源稀缺时尤其以昆虫（松鼠猴属）或“硬”食物，如髓和棕榈坚果（卷尾猴属）为食。体型较小的蛛猴科动物（伶猴属、夜猴属）可能会机会性地利用昆虫或树叶，但僧面猴亚科（僧面猴 - 秃猴）则以种子作为主要蛋白质来源。体型较大的蛛猴科动物（吼猴属、绒毛蛛猴属）依赖树叶或成熟果实（蜘蛛猴属）。运动方式、体型大小和饮食适应是相互关联的：爪子和小体型为狨猴亚科打开了树冠 - 亚冠层生态位；攀爬和悬挂，为蛛猴科动物提供了细树枝环境；体型大、力量大、半握性尾巴和抓握拇指，为卷尾猴属的捕食性食虫行为提供了条件；刻意的四足行走，为食叶的吼猴属提供了节能的移动方式。体型大小在不同类群和谱系中经常并行增减。传统的饮食类别，尤其是食果性，不足以组织与进化适应相关的行为和解剖学证据。基于进食频率的形态进化相关模型往往会模糊“关键功能”的选择重要性，即对饮食中生物力学挑战性成分的反应，这些成分可能由数量较少或季节性的饮食部分决定。对于化石来说，在缺乏详细形态信息的情况下，体型大小是饮食的不可靠指标。需要更多关注开发用于识别和量化牙齿形态的机械重要方面、灵长类食物的物理特性、获取食物的方式以及可获得性和营养价值周期的技术。
