Dietary adaptations of temperate primates: comparisons of Japanese and Barbary macaques

Goro Hanya, Nelly Ménard, Mohamed Qarro, Mohamed Ibn Tattou, Mieko Fuse, Dominique Vallet, Aya Yamada, Moe Go, Hino Takafumi, Riyou Tsujino, Naoki Agetsuma and Kazuo Wada

霊長類は熱帯を中心に分布する生物ですが、ニホンザルをはじめとして、温帯に暮らす種もいます。私たちは、温帯に住む霊長類の代表として、ニホンザルとバーバリマカクをとりあげ、それぞれの生息環境と食性の共通点と相違点を明らかにしました。日本に比べて、バーバリマカクの生息地である北アフリカの森林は、驚くほど多様性の低い森林で、実質上、針葉樹もしくはシイ･カシのなかまの1種か2種で構成されています。ニホンザルもバーバリマカクも、どちらも果実や種子などの高質の食物を好んで食べる一方で、葉も重要な食物になっています。ニホンザルはタンニンを多く含む葉を忌避する傾向が見られましたが、森林の多様性の低い北アフリカでは、バーバリマカクはタンニン含有量の多い葉も食べていました。果実生産の季節性の大きな温帯では、一年を通して利用できる、葉などの繊維性の食物を消化できるかどうかが、重要な適応であることを示すものです。

Primates (2011) 52:187–198

Habitat, diet and leaf chemistry are compared between Japanese and Barbary macaques in order to reveal the similarities and differences in dietary adaptations of temperate primates living at the eastern and western extremes of the genus Macaca. Tree species diversity and proportion of fleshy-fruited species are much higher in Japan than in North Africa. Both species spend considerable annual feeding time on leaves. Japanese macaques prefer fruits and seeds over leaves and Barbary macaques prefer seeds. These characteristics are adaptive in temperate regions where fruit availability varies considerably with season, since animals can survive during the lean period by relying on leaf and other vegetative foods. The two species are different with respect to the higher consumption of herbs by Barbary macaques, and the leaves consumed contain high condensed and hydrolysable tannin for Barbary but not for Japanese macaques. Barbary macaques supplement less diverse tree foods with herbs. Because of the low species diversity and high tannin content of the dominant tree species, Barbary macaques may have developed the capacity to cope with tannin. This supports the idea that the digestion of leaves is indispensable to survive in temperate regions where fruit and seed foods are not available for a prolonged period during each year.

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