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Preliminary study on digging and eating underground plant corms by wild Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys at Tacheng,Yunnan,China

REN Baoping LI Ming WEI Fuwen   

  1. Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology,Institute of Zoology,the Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100101,China
  • Online:2008-10-08 Published:2008-07-07

云南塔城滇金丝猴掘食行为的初步研究

任宝平 李明 魏辅文   

  1. 中国科学院动物研究所,动物生态学与保护生物学重点实验室,100101 北京

Abstract: We followed a free-ranging group of Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopitheucs bieti)at Tacheng,Yunnan,March 2006 to May 2007,to investigate its habitat use. We observed some individuals excavating for something on the ground along the daily travel pathway. Further investigation using photography revealed that such behavior resulted in obtaining plant corms. We used multi-focal animal sampling to investigate sex-age class differences in digging behavior. We compared time-spent for each digging bout and acquisition rate of corms,frequency of digging behaviors among different age-sex classes. Adult males obtained plant corms more easily than other age-sex categories. We found no significant differences between adult males and adult females in time-spent digging. Subadult males showed a distinct digging pattern,with shorter time-spent and more frequent site-transfer than adult males and females. Monkeys did not share corms with others, although some individuals displayed scramble behavior. An adult female with its new born was also observed to dig for the corm,but no acquisition was recorded.

Key words: Digging Rhinopitheucs bieti Underground corms

摘要: 2006 年3 月至2007 年5 月,我们对云南塔城一个滇金丝猴群进行了连续跟踪,旨在调查其生境利用情况。在此期间,我们发现滇金丝猴在地面有掘土行为。通过照片分析,发现滇金丝猴的这种掘食行为旨在获取某种植物地下球茎。后分别在两个地点采用焦点动物行为记录法对这种掘食行为进行了记录。通过比较单次掘食行为的持续时间、掘食行为的发生频次以及掘取成功率,我们发现这些指标在不同年龄- 性别组个体间的差异明显。成年雄猴的成功率明显高于其它两组;在单次掘食行为的时间花费上,成年雄猴和雌猴之间无差别,而亚成年个体表现为用时短和变换挖掘地点频繁的特点。就雄猴而言,成年有助于掘食成功。同时发现,带新生仔的雌猴也会下地采掘,但尚无成功采食纪录。进食植物球茎的过程中未发现分享块茎行为,但有抢食表现。

关键词: 滇金丝猴 掘食行为 植物球茎