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IPS Conference 2006
Abstracts
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Abstract # 9:
Scheduled for Monday,
June 26, 2006
03:20 PM-03:40 PM:
Session 1 (Kuku)
Symposium
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PREDATION ON PRIMATES: A BIOGEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS |
D. Hart
University of Missouri - St. Louis, Department of Anthropology, One University Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri, 63121, USA |
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| A biogeographical approach was used in this study of predation on primates. One hundred seventy-seven predator species (felids, canids, hyaenids, small carnivores, raptors, and reptiles) that prey on primates in four regions (Africa, Madagascar, Asia, and the Neotropics) were identified. A database of approximately 3,600 predation events was constructed through questionnaires completed by field researchers and a review of the literature. A meta-analysis was then conducted. Data for both predator and primate prey involved in each predation event were categorized into taxon, geographic range, weight, stratum occupied, and activity cycle. Frequency distributions for comparison of variables and summaries based on percentages were calculated to assess the magnitude of predation by different categories of predators in different regions. Quantitative measurements such as frequency of occurrence (i.e., number of individual primates of one taxon relative to all prey consumed) and estimated predation rates (percentage per annum of a primate population killed by predators) also were compared. There were no variable combinations of geographic range, weight, stratum, or activity cycle that protect primates from predators. However, using frequency of occurrence in predator diets, two different patterns emerged: 1) Modest predation occurring across a wide range of predators characterized the African and Asian data sets. 2) Heavy predation by a narrow range of predators, particularly raptors, was typical for Madagascar and the Neotropics. |
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Modified: 18 December 2005
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