新世界ザルの森林利用

Abstract

Although some primate species in Africa and Asia are terrestrial, most primates in the world are arboreal and important consumers in tropical forests. In various habitats, several to ten-odd primate species inhabit sympatrically. Comparative studies of forest utilization of a local primate community are important to focus on relationships of arboreal animal community and plants in tropical forests. Ten species of Neotropical primate are confirmed in a study area in northern Bolivia, and two Callitrichidae monkeys, Saguinus fuscicollis and S. labiatus, inhabit sympatrically in the area. The unit group of both sprecies was a family group consisting of two to seven individuals. Home ranges of the family groups of both species were overlapped and the two species frequently made polyspecific associations, but both species preferred. different layers of the forest for traveling and showed different foraging behaviors in the study area. S. fuscicollis tended to utilize the lower layer of the forest, jump from a trunk to a trunk for traveling and forage large-size invertebrates, whereas S. labiatus mainly utilized the middle layer of the forest, jumped from a branch to a branch and foraged small-size invertebrates. Seven species of Cebidae monkeys were distributed in a study area of the Macarena National Park in the upper River Duda Basin in Colombia. Callicebus moloch and Cebus apella usually moved in the lower layer of the forest and used small-size trees for traveling, whereas Alouatta seniculus and Ateles belzebuth tended to use the higher layer of the forest and used large trees for moving support and resting in the area. Differences of height preference in forest utilization, traveling mode and foraging behavior are usually recognized in sympatric monkeys, and small-size species tend to use the lower layer than large ones. Cebidae monkeys inhabit from Argentina to Mexico, but the distribution area of Callitrichidae monkeys is restricted to lower latitude area and the range of genera of the family is bordered by major rivers in the Neotropical area. The author considers that the distribution pattern of both primate families and the differences of forest utilization of a primate community are prescribed by recent species compositions and forest types that were determined by refuge distribution of the tropical humid forest in the last ice age in the Amazon area.