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Feeding ecology of black-headed uacaris (Cacajao melanocephalus melanocephalus) in Pico da Neblina National Park, Brazil

Boubli, JP

Authors



Abstract

From June 1994 to October 1995, I conducted a study of the feeding ecology of one group of black-headed uacaris (Cacajao melanocephalus melanocephalus) in Pico da Neblina National Park, Brazil, near the Venezuelan border (01°10′N to 00°26′S, 65°03′W to 66°52′W). Of a total of 429 feeding records, 89% corresponded to fruits from which black-headed uacaris ate ripe and unripe seeds, mesocarps and arils. Seeds were the single most important food item year-around, corresponding to 81% of the feeding records for fruits. Black-headed uacaris used 120 different plant species in 32 families as food. The 3 most important plant species in their diet, Micrandra spruceana, Eperua leucantha, and Hevea braziliensis (all trees), accounted for 38% of the feeding records for fruits. These species produced fruits that were protected by very hard green husks, were barochorous, did not have fleshy mesocarps, and were slow to mature, thus being available as unripe fruits for long periods. The second and third most important species in the diet of black uacaris, Eperua leucantha and Hevea braziliensis, were dominant in the forest: approximately 30% of trees ≥10 cm dbh sampled in a 2-ha botanical transect at the study site. I discuss the formation of large social groups of black-headed uacaris in Pico da Neblina National Park in light of the peculiar floristic composition of the study site.

Citation

Boubli, J. (1999). Feeding ecology of black-headed uacaris (Cacajao melanocephalus melanocephalus) in Pico da Neblina National Park, Brazil. International Journal of Primatology, 20(5), 719-749. https://doi.org/10.1023/A%3A1020704819367

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Oct 1, 1999
Deposit Date Nov 3, 2021
Journal International Journal of Primatology
Print ISSN 0164-0291
Electronic ISSN 1573-8604
Publisher Springer Verlag
Volume 20
Issue 5
Pages 719-749
DOI https://doi.org/10.1023/A%3A1020704819367
Publisher URL http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-0032751853&partnerID=MN8TOARS
Related Public URLs http://www.springerlink.com/content/0164-0291/