Pal Arijit, Kumara Honnavalli N, Mishra Partha Sarathi, Velankar Avadhoot D, Singh Mewa
Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
Manipal University, Manipal, Karnataka, India.
Primates. 2018 Mar;59(2):173-183. doi: 10.1007/s10329-017-0635-6. Epub 2017 Oct 31.
Macaques possess a repertoire of extractive foraging techniques that range from complex manipulation to tool-aided behaviors, to access food items that increase their foraging efficiency substantially. However, the complexity and composition of such techniques vary considerably between species and even between populations. In the present study, we report seven such complex manipulative behaviors that include six extractive foraging behaviors, and teeth flossing, in a population of Nicobar long-tailed macaques. The apparent purpose of these behaviors was an extraction of encased food, processing food, foraging hidden invertebrates, and dental flossing. Among these behaviors, three behaviors viz. wrapping, wiping, and teeth-flossing were tool-aided behaviors, where macaques used both natural and synthetic materials as tools. Occasionally macaques also modified those tools prior to their use. The substrate use patterns of leaf rubbing and teeth flossing were similar to that observed in other macaques. The spontaneous tool modification to perform wrapping was a first time observation. These observations suggest that Nicobar long-tailed macaques have a high level of sensorimotor intelligence which helps to evolve such innovative foraging solutions.
猕猴拥有一系列取食技巧，从复杂的操作到借助工具的行为，以获取能大幅提高其觅食效率的食物。然而，这些技巧的复杂性和构成在不同物种之间甚至不同种群之间差异很大。在本研究中，我们报告了尼科巴长尾猕猴种群中的七种此类复杂操作行为，包括六种取食行为和牙线清洁行为。这些行为的明显目的是取出包裹的食物、加工食物、捕食隐藏的无脊椎动物以及进行牙线清洁。在这些行为中，三种行为即包裹、擦拭和牙线清洁是借助工具的行为，猕猴使用天然和合成材料作为工具。猕猴偶尔也会在使用工具前对其进行改造。树叶摩擦和牙线清洁的底物使用模式与在其他猕猴中观察到的相似。为进行包裹而自发进行工具改造是首次观察到的情况。这些观察结果表明，尼科巴长尾猕猴具有高度的感觉运动智能，这有助于演化出此类创新的觅食解决方案。
