Slow learning of feeding skills in a nocturnal extractive forager
Section snippets
Data Collection
From April 2012 until December 2018, we observed free-ranging Javan slow lorises in an agroforest environment on Mount Puntang, near the village of Cipaganti (7°6′6″-7°7′S and 107°46′–107°46′5″E) in West Java, Indonesia. The open nature of this habitat allows for a relatively clear view of animals when they are not in dense vegetation, and it is possible for animals to see each other across open fields at distances up to 50 m. The main foods of this population are exudates, floral nectar,
Results
The dietary composition, not weighted by the food intake, throughout ontogeny revealed differences in diet between age categories (Table 2). Infants/juveniles consumed the highest percentage of insects, whereas in the adult diet this percentage was almost halved. Gum comprised the highest percentage of the diet in all age classes, although it decreased slightly in adults. The percentage of nectar and flowers in the diet increased with age, with adults having the highest values. Leaves were
Discussion
The foraging and feeding experiences animals have early in life can have lasting implications for adult preferences, fitness and survivorship (Altmann, 1998; Hauser, 1993; Slagsvold & Wiebe, 2007). Here we have shown that the nocturnal Javan slow loris displays ontogenetic shifts in diet, which are potentially related to physical and social factors, including the conveyance of dietary information through co-feeding behaviour (Galef Jr & Giraldeau, 2001). Given that the dietary stabilization
Acknowledgments
We thank Indonesian RISTEK (22/TKPIPA/FRP/SMXI/2011, 1007/IPH,1/Ks02/IV/2014, 1008/IPH.1/KS02/IV/2014, 386/SIP/FRP/E5/Dit.KI/XI/2017, 147/SIP/FRP/E5/DitKIV/2018, S/476/E5/E5.4/SIP/2020) and the regional Perhutani and BKSDA for authorizing the study and our field team D. Bergin, E. Brown, F. Cabana, R. Cibabuddthea, C. Marsh, S. McCabe, Y. Nazmi, A. Nunur, R. O'Hagan, K. Reinhardt, J. Rode, D. Rustandi, M. Sigaud, D. Spaan and A. Zaelany. We also thank three anonymous referees and the editor for
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