Metagenomic analyses reveal previously unrecognized variation in the diets of sympatric Old World monkey species

Insectivory, or the consumption of insects and other arthropods, is a significant yet cryptic component of omnivorous primate diets. Here, we used high-throughput DNA sequencing to identify arthropods from fecal DNA and assess variation in insectivory by closely-related sympatric primates. We identi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2019-06, Vol.14 (6), p.e0218245-e0218245
Main Authors: Lyke, Martha M, Di Fiore, Anthony, Fierer, Noah, Madden, Anne A, Lambert, Joanna E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena
Animals
Araneae
Arthropoda
Arthropods
Arthropods - genetics
Biology and Life Sciences
Cercopithecidae - classification
Cercopithecidae - physiology
Cercopithecus mitis
Coexistence
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Diet
Dietary intake
DNA
DNA - analysis
DNA sequencing
Ecology
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Feces
Foraging behavior
Gene sequencing
Gorillas
Insects
Lepidoptera
Medical research
Metagenomics
Methods
Monkeys
Niche overlap
Niches
Niches (Ecology)
Prey
Primates
Species
Species Specificity
Spiders
Sympatric populations
Taxa
Variation
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Summary:Insectivory, or the consumption of insects and other arthropods, is a significant yet cryptic component of omnivorous primate diets. Here, we used high-throughput DNA sequencing to identify arthropods from fecal DNA and assess variation in insectivory by closely-related sympatric primates. We identified arthropod prey taxa and tested the hypothesis that variation in insectivory facilitates niche differentiation and coexistence among closely-related species with high dietary overlap. We collected 233 fecal samples from redtail (Cercopithecus ascanius; n = 118) and blue monkeys (C. mitis; n = 115) and used a CO1 metabarcoding approach to identify arthropod DNA in each fecal sample. Arthropod DNA was detected in 99% of samples (N = 223 samples), and a total of 68 families (15 orders) were identified. Redtails consumed arthropods from 54 families, of which 12 (21.8%) were absent from blue monkey samples. Blue monkeys consumed arthropods from 56 families, of which 14 (24.6%) were absent from redtail samples. For both species, >97% of taxa present belonged to four orders (Araneae, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera). Redtail samples contained more Lepidoptera taxa (p
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0218245