霊長類と他の動物の混群現象についての研究の現状

Abstract

I reviewed the studies on polyspecific associations between primates and non-primate animals to appreciate the present situation about this topic. I collected 104 case studies from 50 publications. The partner animals included 19 mammal species, 33-34 bird species, 1 reptile species, and 1-2 insect species, respectively. Among them, associations with non-primate mammals (n=43) and birds (n=59) occupied most of the reported cases. Many polyspecific associations between primates and other mammal species were reported from Asia and Africa, while those between primates and bird species were reported from Central and South America. 34 primate species worldwide formed associations with non-primate animals.Polyspecific associations between primates and other animals included 1) that primates (or other animals) provide food resources to their partner animals and 2) that primates (or other animals) provide anti-predator behavior (e.g., sentinel behavior, loud call, and alarm call). The former association increases foraging benefits to the partner animals, and the latter association decreases predation risk of the partner animals. Most studies, however, pointed out that benefit from given associations are commensalisic, (or even parasitism), i. e. biased to non-primate species.Most of these studies are anecdotal, and do not show quantitative data for the frequency of the association or the benefit of partner animals from participating in the associations. Thus, this interesting phenomenon has not been discussed from an ecological perspective. I recommend several approaches for how to overcome these present challenges.