Feeding in Forest Chimpanzees: Do Food Type and Canopy Location Predict Positional Behavior?

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Distinctive aspects of great ape anatomy and positional behavior, including upright torso stability and suspension, are hypothesized to have evolved to facilitate ripe fruit-eating in the terminal zone of tree canopies at large body size. Fossil discoveries challenge this view, and we test this perspective by investigating relationships among feeding posture, food type, and canopy zone in chimpanzees.

Materials and methods

Focal follow data were collected over 10 months on 103 chimpanzees from Ngogo, Kibale Forest, Uganda. Generalized Linear Mixed Modeling was used to examine the effects of food, canopy location, and age on arboreal feeding posture versatility. Branch size and number, and tree size and species were also examined.

Results

When considering al

SUBMITTER: MacLatchy L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12926289 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature