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The Sensory Ecology of Foraging for Animal Prey

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Leaping Ahead

Part of the book series: Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects ((DIPR))

Abstract

Many prosimians eat animal food, including arthropods and small vertebrates. This chapter explores the clues prosimians rely on to detect and identify animal prey, and their sensory adaptations for predation. Available observational and experimental datasets suggest that acoustic and visual (especially motion) cues, as well as olfactory and tactile ones, to a lesser degree, play a role. Different sensory channels are likely to operate in prey perception over different distances. It appears that acoustic cues first draw the animal’s attention to prey at a distance, while visual cues are used for precise localization at closer range, and olfactory cues operate at very close range to allow the animal to abandon attacks on unpalatable arthropods. Future work should address the role of sensory ecology in shaping prey selection and resource partitioning in prosimians.

Resume

De nombreux prosimiens se nourrissent de la nourriture animale comme les arthropodes et les petits vertébrés. Ce chapitre explore les indices des prosimiens sur la capacité de détecter et classifier les proies animales et les adaptations sensorielles à la prédation chez les prosimiens. L’ensemble des données expérimentales et celles observées suggèrent que les signaux acoustiques et visuels (spécialement les mouvements) et dans la moindre mesure, les signaux olfactifs et tactiles jouent un rôle. Ainsi différents canaux sensoriels fonctionneraient probablement pour la perception des proies sur des distances différentes. En théorie, les signaux acoustiques sont les premiers à attirer l’attention de l’animale sur une proie à grande distance, par contre les signaux visuels sont utilisés pour la localisation précise des proies qui se trouvent à une distance très proche alors que les signaux olfactifs sont potentiellement utilisées à de très courte distance pour abandonner les attaques sur les arthropodes désagréables. En perspectives, je suggère d’aborder le rôle de l’écologie sensorielle pour façonner la sélection des proies et l’allocation des ressources chez prosimiens.

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Acknowledgments

I thank the following colleagues for cooperation and support in researching the sensory ecology of mouse lemurs: Holger Goerlitz, Marcus Piep, Eric Robsomanitrandrasana, Jörg Ganzhorn, Ute Radespiel, Sabine Schmidt, Elke Zimmermann, Jean-Baptiste Ramanamanjato, Daniel Rakotondravony, Olga Ramilijaona, and Manon Vincelette. This work and associated discussions and reading provided the basis for this summary chapter. Thanks to Nathaniel Dominy for organizing the “sensory and cognitive ecology symposium” with me at Ithala and for many inspiring discussions. I am grateful to Judith Masters for making the splendid conference and this volume possible. Bakri Nadhurou provided the French translation of the summary.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sensory Ecology Group, Max-Planck Institute for Ornithology, Eberhard-Gwinner-Strasse, 82319, Seewiesen, Germany

    Björn M. Siemers

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  1. Björn M. Siemers
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Correspondence to Björn M. Siemers .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Zoology, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa

    Judith Masters

  2. Dipto. Biologia Animale e dell'Uomo, Università di Torino, Via Accademia Albertina 13, Torino, 10123, Italy

    Marco Gamba

  3. School Biological and Conservation Sci., University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

    Fabien Génin

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Siemers, B.M. (2012). The Sensory Ecology of Foraging for Animal Prey. In: Masters, J., Gamba, M., Génin, F. (eds) Leaping Ahead. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4511-1_28

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