Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada.
Department of Medical Genetics and Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 4N1, Canada.
Nat Commun. 2019 Jun 3;10(1):2407. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-10250-9.
The senses play critical roles in helping animals evaluate foods, including fruits that can change both in colour and scent during ripening to attract frugivores. Although numerous studies have assessed the impact of colour on fruit selection, comparatively little is known about fruit scent and how olfactory and visual data are integrated during foraging. We combine 25 months of behavioural data on 75 wild, white-faced capuchins (Cebus imitator) with measurements of fruit colours and scents from 18 dietary plant species. We show that frequency of fruit-directed olfactory behaviour is positively correlated with increases in the volume of fruit odours produced during ripening. Monkeys with red-green colour blindness sniffed fruits more often, indicating that increased reliance on olfaction is a behavioural strategy that mitigates decreased capacity to detect red-green colour contrast. These results demonstrate a complex interaction among fruit traits, sensory capacities and foraging strategies, which help explain variation in primate behaviour.
感觉在帮助动物评估食物方面起着至关重要的作用，包括在成熟过程中颜色和气味都会发生变化的水果，以吸引食果动物。尽管许多研究已经评估了颜色对水果选择的影响，但对于水果气味以及在觅食过程中如何整合嗅觉和视觉数据知之甚少。我们结合了 75 只野生白面卷尾猴（Cebus imitator）长达 25 个月的行为数据，以及 18 种食用植物物种的果实颜色和气味测量值。我们发现，随着果实成熟过程中产生的气味体积增加，指向果实的嗅觉行为的频率呈正相关。患有红绿色盲的猴子嗅探水果的频率更高，这表明增加对嗅觉的依赖是一种行为策略，可以减轻检测红绿色彩对比能力下降的影响。这些结果表明水果特征、感官能力和觅食策略之间存在复杂的相互作用，有助于解释灵长类动物行为的变化。
