Insect and meat eating among infant and adult baboons ( Papio cynocephalus ) of Mikumi National Park, Tanzania

Bibliographic Data

ID8314175
AuthorsRamon J Rhine (University of California, Riverside), Guy W Norton (University of California, Riverside), Gail M Wynn (University of California, Riverside), Roger D Wynn (University of California, Riverside), Heather B Rhine (University of California, Riverside)
Year1986
Volume70
Issue1
Pages105-118
Publication date1986-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.1330700115
PMID3728648
OpenAlexW2007071830
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited27

It has been suggested that baboon predation upon vertebrates may tend to peak in the dry season because insect food is then less available, and that males obtain animal nutrients primarily from vertebrates whereas other troop members obtain them primarily from invertebrates. The development of meat and insect eating by 22 male and 24 female infants studied for 25 months was compared with that of 18 male and 46 female adults studied for 37 months. Systematic sampling allowed quantitative comparisons between meat and insect eating, infants and adults, and males and females. Infants ate no meat, but their insect eating began early and increased steadily during the first year of life. In comparison with insect foods, meat was a minor ingredient of the adult's diet. Insect eating occurred less during dry than during rainy months, but meat eating was spread across the year. Reliable sex differences in insect eating did not occur. The findings were related to theories offered to explain the attractiveness of animal foods to primates and to the suggestion that a sex difference in predatory inclinations of hominid ancestors may have been a preadaptation underlying the eventual emergence of male hunting and female gathering

Baboon · Biology · Geography · Insect · Meal · Predation · Tanzania · Zoology · Animal Behavior and Reproduction · Ecology · Food Science · Primate Behavior and Ecology · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation