Food Choice and Nutritional Analysis of Frugivorous and Insectivorous Diets in Captive Northern Greater Galagos (Otolemur Garnettii)
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Food choice and nutritional analysis of frugivorous and insectivorous diets in captive Northern greater galagos (Otolemur garnettii) 1 2 2 3 1 4 5 5 Mead A. Krowka , B. Katherine Smith , Sydnie Bianchi , James E. Loudon , Michaela E. Howells , Andres M. Gomez , Oliver C.C. Paine , Matt Sponheimer 11DepartmentDepartment ofof Anthropology,Anthropology, UniversityUniversity ofof NorthNorth CarolinaCarolina--Wilmington,Wilmington, 22SchoolDepartment of Social of Anthropology Science and Globaland Sociology, Studies, TheThe UniversityUniversity ofof SouthernSouthern Mississippi,Mississippi, 33DepartmentDepartment ofof Anthropology,Anthropology, EastEast Carolina University, 4Department of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, 5Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado, Boulder Objectives Insectivorous Diet Hypotheses • The galagos consumed greater quantities of redworms and nightcrawlers • Assess the dietary preferences of a captive colony of (P<0.0001) compared to crickets and mealworms (Figure 5) H : The galagos will consume higher proportions of fruits high in non- Northern greater galagos (Otolemur garnettii) 1 • Redworms and nightcrawlers were higher in NSC (P<0.01) and lower in structural carbohydrates NDF (P<0.01) compared to crickets and mealworms (Table 1) • Understand the nutritional properties that impact O. H : The galagos will consume higher proportions fruits and invertebrates • Mealworms were higher in CF (P<0.0001) compared to all other garnettii food choice on an experimental “frugivorous” 2 with low levels of dietary inhibitors (i.e. acid detergent fiber and invertebrates (Table 1; Figure 6) and “insectivorous” diet neutral detergent fiber) • Crickets and nightcrawlers were higher in CP (P<0.0001) compared to the Introduction remaining invertebrates (Table 1) Figure 2: Examples of food items (left to right: raspberries, tamarind, crickets) Figure 5. Percentage of each invertebrate consumed by the galagos on the “insectivorous” diet Understanding nonhuman primate (NHP) food choice is fundamental for interpreting their feeding patterns and 97.81 100 95.35 physiological and morphological dietary adaptations. NHPs may 90 select foods with high nutritional yields (i.e. protein or fats) or 80 70 61.59 overall energy or avoid foods high in structural fiber and 60 49.35 secondary toxins1. Despite decades of behavioral observations, 50 40 NHP food choice is not well understood which is an obstacle for 30 Percent diet consumedPercent understanding their biology, behavior, and ecology. 20 10 0 To date the dietary patterns of free-ranging galagos remains Nightcrawler Redworm Cricket Mealworm largely unknown given the complications associated with Figure 6. Mean percentages of Crude Fat (CF), Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF), and Neutral behavioral observations linked to their nocturnal activity Results Detergent Fiber (NDF) for each invertebrate included in the “insectivorous” diet patterns and fast and rapid movements. In this study, we attempt Mealworm 30 Mealworm to understand dietary choices of a captive colony of Northern 28 The nutritional properties of each of the foods are presented in Table 1. 26 greater galagos (Otolemur garnettii) by mimicking naturally 24 22 Cricket Cricket occurring “frugivorous” and “insectivorous” dietary shifts they 20 Redworm Table 1. Mean nutritional values of percent Crude Fat (CF), Crude Protein (CP), 18 2 Mealworm face in the wild . 16 Cricket Non-structural Protein (NSC), Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF), and Acid Detergent 14 Nightcrawler Nightcrawler 12 Nightcrawler Redworm Figure 1: Northern greater galago (Otolemur garnettii ) Fiber (ADF) 10 Redworm 8 Percent dietary element present element present dietary Percent 6 4 2 0 Crude Fat Neutral Detergent Fiber Acid Detergent Fiber Discussion • Hypothesis 1: Supported. The colony of galagos consumed more tamarind than berries. Tamarinds were higher in non-structural carbohydrates and lower in both forms of fiber compared to raspberries and blackberries Frugivorous Diet • Hypothesis 2: Largely supported. For the “frugivorous” diet the galagos ate Materials and Methods • The galago colony consumed significantly more tamarind compared to greater quantities of tamarind which as low in fiber. For the “insectivorous” diet blackberries (P<0.05) (Figure 3) the galagos consumed the highest quantities of nightcrawlers and redworms • Tamarind was significantly higher in NSC (P<0.0001) and lower in ADF which lacked chitinous exoskeletons and were lower in fiber than mealworms and Experimental Dietary Design crickets • A captive colony of 11 individually caged Northern greater (P<0.0001), NDF, CP (P<0.001), and CF (P<0.01) compared to blackberries galagos (Otolemur garnettii) housed at the University of Southern and raspberries (Figure 4; Table 1) Mississippi were provided “frugivorous” and “insectivorous” Conclusions & Applications experimental diets. Figure 3. Percentage of each fruit consumed by the galagos on “frugivorous” diet • Each diet was 14 days long and included a pre-formulated primate • The galago colony selected foods from both diets low in Crude Fat (CF), Acid chow (Lab Diet 5045) for nutritional stability 98.8 Detergent Fiber (ADF), and Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF), and high in Non- • “Frugivorous” diet: blackberry, raspberry, and tamarind Structural Carbohydrates (NSC) 98.6 98.6 • “Insectivorous” diet: nightcrawlers, redworms, crickets, and • Variables such as water content, food texture, and individual preferences also may mealworms 98.4 98.2 have impacted the food choice decisions of the galagos 98.2 • We weighed each food provided to the galagos, and uneaten food • This study provides useful baseline data on the feeding patterns and nutritional • The percentage of each food that was consumed was used as an 98 properties of foods consumed by captive galagos. The data are applicable for free- 97.8 estimate of food choice 97.7 Percent diet Percent consumed ranging galagid studies focussing on gut microbiomes, feeding ecology, and • To examine galago food choices on each diet (i.e. “frugivorous” 97.6 nutrition and “insectivorous”), we compared the weight of each food 97.4 • The data may be helpful for developing conservation initiatives for consumed using ANOVAs with pairwise comparisons 97.2 Otolemur garnettii and other galagid species Raspberry Tamarind Blackberry Nutritional Analyses Acknowledgments Figure 4. Mean percentages of Crude Fat (CF), Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF), and • Each day, a sample of each food provided to the galagos was • This project was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF) for each food in the frugivorous” diet desiccated for 24 hours to ensure that the nutritional properties the (RAPID Award #1840977), UNCW’s CSURF, and UNCW Honor’s College foods provided to the colony was accurate • A special thank you to the USM lab supervisor Nicholas Young for persistent • Living worms were frozen for humane reasons before they were dedication of valuable time and insight towards this project Raspberry desiccated 30 Raspberry • All samples were bathed in acetone post-run and dehydrated for a Blackberry References Cited minimum of two hours 25 1 • After dehydration, the samples were weighed, and the nutritional Blackberry Felton, A. M., Felton, A., Lindenmayer, D. B., & Foley, W. J. (2009). Nutritional goals of wild 20 Tamarind primates. Functional Ecology, 70-78. properties were calculated 2 Nash, L. T., & Harcourt, C. S. (1986). Social organization of galagos in Kenyan coastal forests: II. • Dietary samples were analysed for acid detergent fiber (ADF), 15 Galago garnettii. American Journal of Primatology, 10(4), 357-369. 3 neutral detergent fiber (NDF), crude non-structural carbohydrates Blackberry Rothman, J. M., Chapman, C. A., & Van Soest, P. J. (2012). Methods in primate nutritional ecology: a user’s guide. International Journal of Primatology, 33(3), 542-566. (NSC), crude fat (CF), and crude protein (CP) at the Nutritional 10 Raspberry 4 Percent dietary element consumed dietary element Percent Paine, O. C., Koppa, A., Henry, A. G., Leichliter, J. N., Codron, D., Codron, J., ... & Sponheimer, M. 3,4 and Isotopic Ecology Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder Tamarind (2018). Grass leaves as potential hominin dietary resources. Journal of Human Evolution, 117, 44-52. 5 • For each diet (“frugivorous” and “insectivorous”), we compared Tamarind the nutritional properties for each food using ANOVAs with 0 pairwise comparisons Crude Fat Acid Detergent Fiber Neutral Detergent Fiber.