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Amato KR, Chaves ÓM, Mallott EK, Eppley TM, Abreu F, Baden AL, Barnett AA, Bicca-Marques JC, Boyle SA, Campbell CJ, Chapman CA, De la Fuente MF, Fan P, Fashing PJ, Felton A, Fruth B, Fortes VB, Grueter CC, Hohmann G, Irwin M, Matthews JK, Mekonnen A, Melin AD, Morgan DB, Ostner J, Nguyen N, Piel AK, Pinacho-Guendulain B, Quintino-Arêdes EP, Razanaparany PT, Schiel N, Sanz CM, Schülke O, Shanee S, Souto A, Souza-Alves JP, Stewart F, Stewart KM, Stone A, Sun B, Tecot S, Valenta K, Vogel ER, Wich S, Zeng Y. Fermented food consumption in wild nonhuman primates and its ecological drivers. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021; 175:513-530. [PMID: 33650680 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2020] [Revised: 02/03/2021] [Accepted: 02/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Although fermented food use is ubiquitous in humans, the ecological and evolutionary factors contributing to its emergence are unclear. Here we investigated the ecological contexts surrounding the consumption of fruits in the late stages of fermentation by wild primates to provide insight into its adaptive function. We hypothesized that climate, socioecological traits, and habitat patch size would influence the occurrence of this behavior due to effects on the environmental prevalence of late-stage fermented foods, the ability of primates to detect them, and potential nutritional benefits. MATERIALS AND METHODS We compiled data from field studies lasting at least 9 months to describe the contexts in which primates were observed consuming fruits in the late stages of fermentation. Using generalized linear mixed-effects models, we assessed the effects of 18 predictor variables on the occurrence of fermented food use in primates. RESULTS Late-stage fermented foods were consumed by a wide taxonomic breadth of primates. However, they generally made up 0.01%-3% of the annual diet and were limited to a subset of fruit species, many of which are reported to have mechanical and chemical defenses against herbivores when not fermented. Additionally, late-stage fermented food consumption was best predicted by climate and habitat patch size. It was more likely to occur in larger habitat patches with lower annual mean rainfall and higher annual mean maximum temperatures. DISCUSSION We posit that primates capitalize on the natural fermentation of some fruits as part of a nutritional strategy to maximize periods of fruit exploitation and/or access a wider range of plant species. We speculate that these factors contributed to the evolutionary emergence of the human propensity for fermented foods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine R Amato
- Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | - Óscar M Chaves
- Escuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, UCR, San José, Costa Rica
| | - Elizabeth K Mallott
- Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | - Timothy M Eppley
- Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global, San Diego, California, USA.,Department of Anthropology, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - Filipa Abreu
- Department of Biology, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | - Andrea L Baden
- Department of Anthropology, Hunter College of the City University of New York, New York, New York, USA.,The New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), City University of New York, New York, New York, USA
| | - Adrian A Barnett
- Amazon Mammals Research Group, National Amazon Research Institute (INPA), Manaus, AM, Brazil & Department of. Zoology, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Prince Edward Island, Brazil
| | - Julio Cesar Bicca-Marques
- Laboratório de Primatologia, Escola de Ciências da Saúde e da Vida, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, PUCRS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Sarah A Boyle
- Department of Biology, Rhodes College, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
| | - Christina J Campbell
- Department of Anthropology, California State University Northridge, Northridge, California, USA
| | - Colin A Chapman
- Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.,School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.,Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation, Northwest University, Xi'an, China
| | | | - Pengfei Fan
- School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Peter J Fashing
- Department of Anthropology and Environmental Studies Program, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, California, USA.,Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Annika Felton
- Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Alnarp, Sweden
| | - Barbara Fruth
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom.,Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Vanessa B Fortes
- Laboratório de Primatologia, Departamento de Zootecnia e Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Palmeira das Missões, RS, Brazil
| | - Cyril C Grueter
- School of Human Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.,Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
| | - Gottfried Hohmann
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Mitchell Irwin
- Department of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, USA
| | - Jaya K Matthews
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.,Africa Research & Engagement Centre, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Addisu Mekonnen
- Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Amanda D Melin
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
| | - David B Morgan
- Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Julia Ostner
- Department of Behavioral Ecology, University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany.,Research Group Primate Social Evolution, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Nga Nguyen
- Department of Anthropology and Environmental Studies Program, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, California, USA.,Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis (CEES), University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Alex K Piel
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Braulio Pinacho-Guendulain
- Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), Lerma, Mexico.,Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación para el Desarrollo Integral Regional (CIIDIR), Unidad Oaxaca, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Erika Patricia Quintino-Arêdes
- Laboratório de Primatologia, Escola de Ciências da Saúde e da Vida, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, PUCRS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Patrick Tojotanjona Razanaparany
- Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.,Department of Zoology and Animal Biodiversity, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar
| | - Nicola Schiel
- Department of Biology, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | - Crickette M Sanz
- Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.,Congo Program, Wildlife Conservation Society, Brazzaville, Congo
| | - Oliver Schülke
- Department of Behavioral Ecology, University of Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany.,Research Group Primate Social Evolution, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Goettingen, Germany
| | - Sam Shanee
- Neotropical Primate Conservation, Cornwall, United Kingdom
| | - Antonio Souto
- Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | - João Pedro Souza-Alves
- Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | - Fiona Stewart
- School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Kathrine M Stewart
- Centre for Research and Conservation, Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Anita Stone
- Biology Department, California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, California, USA
| | - Binghua Sun
- School of Resource and Environmental Engineering, Anhui University, Hefei, China
| | - Stacey Tecot
- School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - Kim Valenta
- Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Erin R Vogel
- Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
| | - Serge Wich
- School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Yan Zeng
- Animal Microecology Institute, College of Veterinary, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya'an, China
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