Interdepartmental Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, USA.
Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA.
Am J Primatol. 2021 Jun;83(6):e23256. doi: 10.1002/ajp.23256. Epub 2021 Apr 5.
Arthropods (insects, spiders, etc.) can fulfill major nutritional requirements for primates, particularly in terms of proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals. Yet, for many primate species we know very little about the frequency and importance of arthropod consumption. Traditional methods for arthropod prey identification, such as behavioral observations and fecal dissections, offer limited taxonomic resolution and, as a result, underestimate true diversity. Metabarcoding arthropod DNA from primate fecal samples provides a promising but underused alternative. Here, we inventoried arthropod prey diversity in wild lemurs by sequencing two regions of the CO1 gene. Samples were collected opportunistically from 10 species of lemurs inhabiting three national parks in southern Madagascar using a combination of focal animal follows and live trapping. In total, we detected arthropod DNA in 98 of the 170 fecal samples analyzed. Although all lemur species included in these analyses showed evidence of arthropod consumption, those within the family Cheirogaleidae appeared to consume the highest frequency and diversity of arthropods. To our knowledge, this study presents the first evidence of arthropod consumption in Phaner pallescens, Avahi peyrierasi, and Propithecus verreauxi, and identifies 32 families of arthropods as probable food items that have not been published as lemur dietary items to date. Our study emphasizes the importance of arthropods as a nutritional source and the role DNA metabarcoding can play in elucidating an animal's diet.
节肢动物（昆虫、蜘蛛等）可以满足灵长类动物的主要营养需求，特别是在蛋白质、脂肪、维生素和矿物质方面。然而，对于许多灵长类物种，我们对其食用节肢动物的频率和重要性知之甚少。传统的节肢动物猎物鉴定方法，如行为观察和粪便解剖，提供的分类分辨率有限，因此低估了真正的多样性。从灵长类动物粪便样本中对节肢动物 DNA 进行代谢组学分析提供了一种很有前途但尚未充分利用的替代方法。在这里，我们通过对 CO1 基因的两个区域进行测序，对野生狐猴的节肢动物猎物多样性进行了编目。这些样本是通过对生活在马达加斯加南部三个国家公园的 10 种狐猴进行的焦点动物跟踪和活体诱捕，随机采集的。在总共 170 个分析的粪便样本中，我们检测到了 98 个样本中存在节肢动物 DNA。尽管所有包括在这些分析中的狐猴物种都有食用节肢动物的证据，但那些在狐猴科中的物种似乎食用了最高频率和多样性的节肢动物。据我们所知，本研究首次证明了 Phaner pallescens、Avahi peyrierasi 和 Propithecus verreauxi 存在食用节肢动物的情况，并确定了 32 个节肢动物科可能是食物来源，这些都是迄今为止尚未公布的灵长类动物的饮食内容。我们的研究强调了节肢动物作为营养来源的重要性，以及 DNA 代谢组学在阐明动物饮食方面的作用。
