Barbara Fruth
Biographic Data
| ID | 106549 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Barbara Fruth |
| GIVEN NAMES | Barbara |
| FAMILY NAME | Fruth |
| SIGNATURE | FRUTH B |
| AFFILIATIONS | Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9217-3053 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 37 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 116 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 37 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1994 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Importance of non-timber forest products in the livelihoods of rural communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Non-timber forest products support the livelihoods of ∼80% of people in the tropics. • While the focus is on wild meat and fish, other products are poorly investigated. • For a year, we monitored use in 457 rural households in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. • People relied on forest products other than wild meat and fish for food and medicine. • Commercialization of these products can diversify income, easing pressure on wildlife. Non-timb…
Patterns of wild meat and other protein consumption in the periphery of Salonga National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo
In Central Africa, human activities are severely impacting terrestrial and aquatic wildlife, threatening the food security of millions of people. Accordingly, sustainable use of wildlife is crucial for the nutrition and livelihoods of many rural communities in the region. Across 12 months, we conducted 24‐h recall interviews 7 days per month with 457 households from six villages in the periphery of Salonga National Park, a biodiversity hotspot in…
Bonobo (Pan paniscus) Density and Distribution in Central Africa's Largest Rainforest Reserve
Conservation measures require accurate estimates of density and abundance and population trend assessments. The bonobo ( Pan paniscus ) is considered Endangered in the IUCN Red List. This classification assumes that available population data are representative. However, with only 30% of the bonobo’s historic geographical range surveyed, reliable information is needed to assess the species' population status. Here, we use information from 13 surve…
Wild bonobos experience unusually low bone resorption during early lactation relative to humans and other mammals
In mammals, pregnancy and lactation are marked by maternal calcium stress and bone resorption, leading to reduced bone mineral density. In humans, these periods may partly explain the higher prevalence of osteoporosis in older women compared with men, but lactation patterns in modern humans may reflect cultural influences rather than natural conditions. The extent to which these findings apply to wild-living mammals remains unknown. We measured u…
Self-Medication in Humans ( Homo sapiens ) and Bonobos ( Pan paniscus ) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
In this article I engage with the complex interplay of primates, plants and parasites. We learn about the ethnobotanical records of an indigenous population and their medicinal plants, and get a glimpse into the interplay of man and ape in a jointly used ecosystem. I combine my long-term research on free-living bonobos, a species endemic to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with historical work. I show the surprising and extraordinary ingesti…
Water scooping
Tool use diversity is often considered to differentiate our two closest living relatives: the chimpanzee ( Pan troglodytes ) and the bonobo ( P. paniscus ). Chimpanzees appear to have the largest repertoire of tools amongst nonhuman primates, and in this species, many forms of tool use enhance food and water acquisition. In captivity, bonobos seem as adept as chimpanzees in tool use complexity, including in the foraging context. However, in the w…
Preliminary isotopic assessment of weaning in bonobos shows evidence for extended nursing, sibling competition and invested first‐time mothers
Although considered a hallmark in early ontogeny, weaning from breastmilk is difficult to monitor in wild primates and weaning ages remain unknown for wild bonobos ( Pan Paniscus ). Here, we calculated inter‐birth intervals from demographic data and measured the isotopic offsets (Δ 15 N and Δ 13 C) between mother ( n = 17) and offspring ( n = 28) fecal sample pairs ( n = 131, total n = 246) in the LuiKotale bonobos to assess nutritional weaning f…
Assessing the effects of survey-inherent disturbance on primate detectability
Habitat destruction and over-hunting are increasingly threatening the arboreal primates of Central Africa. To establish effective conservation strategies, accurate assessments of primate density, abundance, and spatial distribution are required. To date, the method of choice for primate density estimation is line transect distance sampling. However, primates fleeing human observers violate methodological assumptions, biasing the accuracy of resul…
Investigating the impact of a long-term research and conservation project on the expansion of land use and land cover in a remote area of central DRC
Anthropogenic impact and population growth have caused a dramatic loss of biodiversity worldwide. Deforestation due to logging, mining, and burning are of particular severity in tropical rainforests with the Amazonian and Congolese basins harboring the largest reminders on our planet. While research projects particularly those with permanent presence on ground have been considered as excellent conservation measures to protect habitat and wildlife…
Neopterin Levels in Bonobos Vary Seasonally and Reflect Symptomatic Respiratory Infections
As environmental changes exacerbate the threat coming from infectious diseases in wild mammal species, monitoring their health and gaining a better understanding of the immune functioning at the species level have become critically important. Neopterin is a biomarker of cell-mediated immune responses to intracellular infections. We investigated the variation of urinary neopterin (uNeo) levels of wild, habituated bonobos ( Pan paniscus ) in relati…
Golden‐bellied mangabeys ( Cercocebus chrysogaster ) exhibit a larger home range and longer travel distances than those of bonobos ( Pan paniscus ) at LuiKotale, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Primate ranging behavior is associated with numerous social and ecological correlates. Interspecific comparisons of ranging behavior can therefore provide insight into the socio‐ecological conditions that characterize a species' niche within its community. We provide the first description of ranging behavior in golden‐bellied mangabeys ( Cercocebus chrysogaster ), using sympatric bonobos ( Pan paniscus ) as a comparison. Over 6 months, we recorde…
What fecal analyses reveal about Manniophyton fulvum consumption in LuiKotale bonobos ( Pan paniscus )
Observations of animals in the wild can result in the discovery of plants for human medicinal purposes. In this context, our closest relatives, the great apes, are of particular interest. The Euphorbiaceae Manniophyton fulvum possesses both phytochemical and biomechanical properties. Its use in the genus Pan ( P. troglodytes; P. paniscus ) is thought to be based on its mechanical properties promoting the egestion of intestinal parasites, but addi…
Dominance or Tolerance? Causes and consequences of a period of increased intercommunity encounters among bonobos (Pan paniscus) at LuiKotale
Group-living primates exhibit variable reactions to intergroup encounters (or IGEs), reflecting species-specific strategies and individual motivations. In chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ), dominating in IGEs provides fitness benefits. Less is known about responses to IGEs in bonobos ( Pan paniscus ) despite their equal relevance for understanding the origins of human intergroup relations. We observed the Bompusa West (WBp) bonobo community at LuiK…
First report of a leopard (Panthera pardus)–bonobo (Pan paniscus) encounter at the LuiKotale study site, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Predation is a major cause of mortality in non-human primates, and considered a selective force in the evolution of primate societies. Although larger body size is considered as protection against predation, evidence for predation on great apes by carnivores comes from chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ), gorillas ( Gorilla gorilla ), and orangutans ( Pongo spp.). Here, we describe the first encounter between wild bonobos ( Pan paniscus ) and a leopa…
In vivo deciduous dental eruption in LuiKotale bonobos and Gombe chimpanzees
OBJECTIVES: Existing data on bonobo and chimpanzee dental eruption timing are derived predominantly from captive individuals or deceased wild individuals. However, recent advances in noninvasive photographic monitoring of living, wild apes have enabled researchers to characterize dental eruption in relatively healthy individuals under naturalistic conditions. At present, such data are available for only one population of wild chimpanzees. We repo…
Fermented food consumption in wild nonhuman primates and its ecological drivers
OBJECTIVES: Although fermented food use is ubiquitous in humans, the ecological and evolutionary factors contributing to its emergence are unclear. Here we investigated the ecological contexts surrounding the consumption of fruits in the late stages of fermentation by wild primates to provide insight into its adaptive function. We hypothesized that climate, socioecological traits, and habitat patch size would influence the occurrence of this beha…
Wild bonobo and chimpanzee females exhibit broadly similar patterns of behavioral maturation but some evidence for divergence
OBJECTIVES: Primates exhibit variation in rates of growth and development. Variation in female growth and development across ape species appears to be explained by the Ecological Risk Aversion Hypothesis (ERAH). Indeed, existing data on variation in somatic growth and reproductive maturation between humans' closest living ape relatives, bonobos and chimpanzees, appear to be consistent with this hypothesis. However, existing data on behavioral mat…
Patterns of urinary cortisol levels during ontogeny appear population specific rather than species specific in wild chimpanzees and bonobos
Compared with most mammals, postnatal development in great apes is protracted, presenting both an extended period of phenotypic plasticity to environmental conditions and the potential for sustained mother-offspring and/or sibling conflict over resources. Comparisons of cortisol levels during ontogeny can reveal physiological plasticity to species or population specific socioecological factors and in turn how these factors might ameliorate or exa…
Sleep and nesting behavior in primates
Sleep is a universal behavior in vertebrate and invertebrate animals, suggesting it originated in the very first life forms. Given the vital function of sleep, sleeping patterns and sleep architecture follow dynamic and adaptive processes reflecting trade‐offs to different selective pressures. Here, we review responses in sleep and sleep‐related behavior to environmental constraints across primate species, focusing on the role of great ape nest b…
Food Sharing across Borders
Evolutionary models consider hunting and food sharing to be milestones that paved the way from primate to human societies. Because fossil evidence is scarce, hominoid primates serve as referential models to assess our common ancestors' capacity in terms of communal use of resources, food sharing, and other forms of cooperation. Whereas chimpanzees form male-male bonds exhibiting resource-defense polygyny with intolerance and aggression toward non…
Food begging and sharing in wild bonobos (Pan paniscus)
In vitro antiprotozoal activity and cytotoxicity of extracts and isolated constituents from Greenwayodendron suaveolens
In vitro antiprotozoal activity and cytotoxicity of extracts and fractions from the leaves, root bark and stem bark of Isolona hexaloba
Lethal aggression in Pan is better explained by adaptive strategies than human impacts
New evidence for self‐medication in bonobos
The swallowing of entire leaves by apes across Africa without chewing has been observed for over 40 plant species. Here we add evidence for (a) a new site, LuiKotale where leaf-swallowing of Manniophyton fulvum (Euphorbiaceae) is observed in bonobos, (b) a so far unreported ingestion of unchewed stemstrips of M. fulvum, we name stemstrip-swallowing; and (c) a test of some of the requirements put forward by Huffman for the assessment of plants ing…
Culture in Bonobos? Between‐Species and Within‐Species Variation in Behavior
Is nut cracking in wild chimpanzees a cultural behaviour
Food Sharing across Borders
Evolutionary models consider hunting and food sharing to be milestones that paved the way from primate to human societies. Because fossil evidence is scarce, hominoid primates serve as referential models to assess our common ancestors' capacity in terms of communal use of resources, food sharing, and other forms of cooperation. Whereas chimpanzees form male-male bonds exhibiting resource-defense polygyny with intolerance and aggression toward non…
Nests
Prospects for Bonobo Insectivory
Structure and use of distance calls in wild bonobos (Pan paniscus)
Fermented food consumption in wild nonhuman primates and its ecological drivers
OBJECTIVES: Although fermented food use is ubiquitous in humans, the ecological and evolutionary factors contributing to its emergence are unclear. Here we investigated the ecological contexts surrounding the consumption of fruits in the late stages of fermentation by wild primates to provide insight into its adaptive function. We hypothesized that climate, socioecological traits, and habitat patch size would influence the occurrence of this beha…
Wild bonobo and chimpanzee females exhibit broadly similar patterns of behavioral maturation but some evidence for divergence
OBJECTIVES: Primates exhibit variation in rates of growth and development. Variation in female growth and development across ape species appears to be explained by the Ecological Risk Aversion Hypothesis (ERAH). Indeed, existing data on variation in somatic growth and reproductive maturation between humans' closest living ape relatives, bonobos and chimpanzees, appear to be consistent with this hypothesis. However, existing data on behavioral mat…
Bonobo (Pan paniscus) Density and Distribution in Central Africa's Largest Rainforest Reserve
Conservation measures require accurate estimates of density and abundance and population trend assessments. The bonobo ( Pan paniscus ) is considered Endangered in the IUCN Red List. This classification assumes that available population data are representative. However, with only 30% of the bonobo’s historic geographical range surveyed, reliable information is needed to assess the species' population status. Here, we use information from 13 surve…
Dominance or Tolerance? Causes and consequences of a period of increased intercommunity encounters among bonobos (Pan paniscus) at LuiKotale
Group-living primates exhibit variable reactions to intergroup encounters (or IGEs), reflecting species-specific strategies and individual motivations. In chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ), dominating in IGEs provides fitness benefits. Less is known about responses to IGEs in bonobos ( Pan paniscus ) despite their equal relevance for understanding the origins of human intergroup relations. We observed the Bompusa West (WBp) bonobo community at LuiK…
Patterns of urinary cortisol levels during ontogeny appear population specific rather than species specific in wild chimpanzees and bonobos
Compared with most mammals, postnatal development in great apes is protracted, presenting both an extended period of phenotypic plasticity to environmental conditions and the potential for sustained mother-offspring and/or sibling conflict over resources. Comparisons of cortisol levels during ontogeny can reveal physiological plasticity to species or population specific socioecological factors and in turn how these factors might ameliorate or exa…
Structure and use of distance calls in wild bonobos (Pan paniscus)
Is nut cracking in wild chimpanzees a cultural behaviour
Nests
Census and distribution of chimpanzees in Côte D’Ivoire
Resting and nesting in primates
Resting and nesting in primates
Mitochondrial sequences show diverse evolutionary histories of African hominoids
Phylogenetic trees for the four extant species of African hominoids are presented, based on mtDNA control region-1 sequences from 1,158 unique haplotypes. We include 83 new haplotypes of western chimpanzees and bonobos. Phylogenetic analysis of this enlarged database, which takes intraspecific geographic variability into account, reveals different patterns of evolution among species and great heterogeneity in species-level variation. Several chim…
Culture in Bonobos? Between‐Species and Within‐Species Variation in Behavior
Prospects for Bonobo Insectivory
Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas
In vitro antiprotozoal and cytotoxic activity of 33 ethonopharmacologically selected medicinal plants from Democratic Republic of Congo
The Bonobo– D ialium Positive Interactions
A positive interaction is any interaction between individuals of the same or different species (mutualism) that provides a benefit to both partners such as increased fitness. Here we focus on seed dispersal mutualism between an animal (bonobo, Pan paniscus ) and a plant (velvet tamarind trees, Dialium spp.). In the LuiKotale rainforest southwest of Salonga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo, seven species of the genus Dialium account for…
Lethal aggression in Pan is better explained by adaptive strategies than human impacts
New evidence for self‐medication in bonobos
The swallowing of entire leaves by apes across Africa without chewing has been observed for over 40 plant species. Here we add evidence for (a) a new site, LuiKotale where leaf-swallowing of Manniophyton fulvum (Euphorbiaceae) is observed in bonobos, (b) a so far unreported ingestion of unchewed stemstrips of M. fulvum, we name stemstrip-swallowing; and (c) a test of some of the requirements put forward by Huffman for the assessment of plants ing…
In vitro antiprotozoal activity and cytotoxicity of extracts and fractions from the leaves, root bark and stem bark of Isolona hexaloba
Food begging and sharing in wild bonobos (Pan paniscus)
In vitro antiprotozoal activity and cytotoxicity of extracts and isolated constituents from Greenwayodendron suaveolens
Sleep and nesting behavior in primates
Sleep is a universal behavior in vertebrate and invertebrate animals, suggesting it originated in the very first life forms. Given the vital function of sleep, sleeping patterns and sleep architecture follow dynamic and adaptive processes reflecting trade‐offs to different selective pressures. Here, we review responses in sleep and sleep‐related behavior to environmental constraints across primate species, focusing on the role of great ape nest b…
Food Sharing across Borders
Evolutionary models consider hunting and food sharing to be milestones that paved the way from primate to human societies. Because fossil evidence is scarce, hominoid primates serve as referential models to assess our common ancestors' capacity in terms of communal use of resources, food sharing, and other forms of cooperation. Whereas chimpanzees form male-male bonds exhibiting resource-defense polygyny with intolerance and aggression toward non…
Wild bonobo and chimpanzee females exhibit broadly similar patterns of behavioral maturation but some evidence for divergence
OBJECTIVES: Primates exhibit variation in rates of growth and development. Variation in female growth and development across ape species appears to be explained by the Ecological Risk Aversion Hypothesis (ERAH). Indeed, existing data on variation in somatic growth and reproductive maturation between humans' closest living ape relatives, bonobos and chimpanzees, appear to be consistent with this hypothesis. However, existing data on behavioral mat…
Patterns of urinary cortisol levels during ontogeny appear population specific rather than species specific in wild chimpanzees and bonobos
Compared with most mammals, postnatal development in great apes is protracted, presenting both an extended period of phenotypic plasticity to environmental conditions and the potential for sustained mother-offspring and/or sibling conflict over resources. Comparisons of cortisol levels during ontogeny can reveal physiological plasticity to species or population specific socioecological factors and in turn how these factors might ameliorate or exa…
First report of a leopard (Panthera pardus)–bonobo (Pan paniscus) encounter at the LuiKotale study site, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Predation is a major cause of mortality in non-human primates, and considered a selective force in the evolution of primate societies. Although larger body size is considered as protection against predation, evidence for predation on great apes by carnivores comes from chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes ), gorillas ( Gorilla gorilla ), and orangutans ( Pongo spp.). Here, we describe the first encounter between wild bonobos ( Pan paniscus ) and a leopa…
In vivo deciduous dental eruption in LuiKotale bonobos and Gombe chimpanzees
OBJECTIVES: Existing data on bonobo and chimpanzee dental eruption timing are derived predominantly from captive individuals or deceased wild individuals. However, recent advances in noninvasive photographic monitoring of living, wild apes have enabled researchers to characterize dental eruption in relatively healthy individuals under naturalistic conditions. At present, such data are available for only one population of wild chimpanzees. We repo…
Fermented food consumption in wild nonhuman primates and its ecological drivers
OBJECTIVES: Although fermented food use is ubiquitous in humans, the ecological and evolutionary factors contributing to its emergence are unclear. Here we investigated the ecological contexts surrounding the consumption of fruits in the late stages of fermentation by wild primates to provide insight into its adaptive function. We hypothesized that climate, socioecological traits, and habitat patch size would influence the occurrence of this beha…
What fecal analyses reveal about Manniophyton fulvum consumption in LuiKotale bonobos ( Pan paniscus )
Observations of animals in the wild can result in the discovery of plants for human medicinal purposes. In this context, our closest relatives, the great apes, are of particular interest. The Euphorbiaceae Manniophyton fulvum possesses both phytochemical and biomechanical properties. Its use in the genus Pan ( P. troglodytes; P. paniscus ) is thought to be based on its mechanical properties promoting the egestion of intestinal parasites, but addi…
Biology (32 works) · Primate Behavior and Ecology (29 works) · Zoology (21 works) · Ecology (19 works) · Bonobo (16 works) · Ecology (16 works) · Geography (16 works) · Pan paniscus (12 works) · Animal ecology (10 works) · Troglodytes (10 works)