Scheun Juan, Bennett Nigel C, Ganswindt Andre, Nowack Julia
Mammal Research Institute, Department of Zoology and Entomology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0028, South Africa.
Primates. 2014 Jul;55(3):359-63. doi: 10.1007/s10329-014-0420-8. Epub 2014 Apr 12.
The African lesser bushbaby, Galago moholi, is described as a food specialist, feeding exclusively on small arthropods and gum primarily from Acacia karroo trees. We studied a population of G. moholi in a highly fragmented habitat in the southernmost part of its natural distributional range in South Africa. In this habitat, we opportunistically observed bushbabies feeding on fruits of the winter fruiting tree, Pappea capensis. Plot counts of tree composition revealed that although the dominant tree species in the area belonged to the genus Acacia, A. karroo trees were widely absent and gum could only be found in small quantities on other Acacia species. The analysis of P. capensis fruits showed high levels of protein, fat, and energy content, making the fruits a potentially important food source for G. moholi during winter when insect availability is low. Our observation is the first documented case of fruit feeding in G. moholi, suggesting that the species is not a food specialist as previously reported but can supplement its diet with fruit when available.
非洲小倭丛猴（Galago moholi）被描述为一种食物专家，仅以小型节肢动物和主要来自卡鲁金合欢树的树胶为食。我们在南非其自然分布范围最南端的一个高度破碎化的栖息地中研究了一个非洲小倭丛猴种群。在这个栖息地，我们偶然观察到倭丛猴以冬季结果的树木——南非檀（Pappea capensis）的果实为食。对树木组成的样地计数显示，尽管该地区的优势树种属于金合欢属，但卡鲁金合欢树广泛缺失，且只能在其他金合欢树种上少量发现树胶。对南非檀果实的分析表明，其蛋白质、脂肪和能量含量很高，这使得这些果实在昆虫供应量低的冬季成为非洲小倭丛猴潜在的重要食物来源。我们的观察是首次记录到非洲小倭丛猴取食果实的案例，这表明该物种并非如先前报道的那样是食物专家，而是在有果实可获取时能够将其纳入饮食。
