A comparison of the diets of three major groups of primary consumers of Gabon (primates, squirrels and ruminants)

Abstract

The diets of three major groups of frugivores-folivores of an African rain forest (squirrels, ruminants, primates) are compared and the relationship of food habits to body weight, habitat and foraging height examined. A number of common trends in the trophic patterns are found in the three groups. Over half of the fruit species identified in the diets of any one taxon are exploited in common with one or more of the others. The parts of fruit usually eaten are different for each group but for a number of species, the same fruit parts are searched for by the species of the three taxa.