Isbell L A
Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.
Am J Primatol. 1998;45(4):381-98. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-2345(1998)45:4<381::AID-AJP5>3.0.CO;2-S.
A 17 month field study of unprovisioned patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas pyrrhonotus) in Laikipia, Kenya, using both ad libitum and scan sampling techniques, revealed that the diet of patas monkeys consists primarily of gum of Acacia drepanolobium, arthropods (both free-living and concentrated in the swollen thorns of A. drepanolobium), and other animals. This type of diet is normally found only in smaller-bodied primates. Results from vegetational transects suggest that the larger-bodied patas monkey can subsist on such a diet because gum and arthropods are relatively easily found in their habitat, thereby minimizing search time. Patas monkeys also spend more time moving and less time feeding (while not moving) than other Old World primates. The characteristic long limbs of patas may have evolved in response to feeding on small, nonusurpable, and widely distributed foods, in which access to foods is maximized while time and energy spent in terrestrial travel between food sites are minimized.
在肯尼亚莱基皮亚，对未提供食物的东非赤猴（Erythrocebus patas pyrrhonotus）进行了为期17个月的实地研究，采用随意取样和扫描取样技术，结果显示东非赤猴的饮食主要由阿拉伯胶树的树胶、节肢动物（包括自由生活的和集中在阿拉伯胶树肿胀刺中的）以及其他动物组成。这种饮食类型通常只在体型较小的灵长类动物中发现。植被样带的结果表明，体型较大的东非赤猴能够依靠这种饮食生存，因为树胶和节肢动物在它们的栖息地相对容易找到，从而将搜索时间减到最少。与其他旧世界灵长类动物相比，东非赤猴移动花费的时间更多，进食（静止时）花费的时间更少。东非赤猴特有的长腿可能是为了适应以小的、不可抢夺且分布广泛的食物为食而进化而来的，这样在获取食物时能最大化，同时在食物地点之间陆地移动所花费的时间和能量能最小化。
