Abstract
This chapter deals with the adaptation of taste responses of lemurs and other primates to different environments, in relation to primary and secondary compounds in potential foodstuffs. Emphasis is placed on the relationship between taste sensibility to sugars and energy expenditure across species. In the most specialized species, the adaptive trends are inferred according to the importance of the deviation from such allometric relationship. The signification of sugar mimics present in some fruits is discussed in terms of coevolution of plants and tasting ability of primates, that, for lemurs, parallels that of platyrrhine monkeys.
Taste responses towards other tastants such as sodium chloride are examined in relation to potential risks of deficiency and/or toxicity. Sensitivity to tannins has been investigated in different species, with a two-bottle preference test. We observed large variations that are likely to be adaptive to the concentrations in plant species in various environments. For instance, the rejection threshold for a mixture of tannin and fructose is much higher inPropithecus verreauxi(above 170g/1) than inMicrocebus murinus(0.54 g/l). Recognition thresholds can also vary slightly between human populations, in relation to ancient or recent food practices. There is also a wide range of taste sensi-tivity towards quinine, without any correlation, in this case, with body mass or other factors related to energy expenditure.
Different habitats of Madagascar are compared according to the results of screening tests on tannins and alkaloids. The eastern rain forest (at Andasibe) present slightly lower proportion of plants with alkaloid-like reaction, and a significantly higher proportion of tannin-rich plants than both the gallery forest and the Didiereaceae bush in the south (at Berenty). The results have been related to the gustatory ability of lemur species having to cope with these secondary compounds, and the food niche of the different species.de lémuriens confrontées aux produits secondaires de ces habitats.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bate-Smith, E. C. 1974. Phytochemistry of proanthocyanidins. Phytochemistry, 14: 1107–1113.
Bollard, E. G. 1970. The physiology and nutrition of developping fruits, pp. 387–425.InHulme, A. C., ed., The Biochemistry of Fruits and their Products, vol. 1. Academic Press, London.
Critchley, H., and E. Rolls. 1996. Responses of primate taste cortex neurons to the astringent tastant tannic acid. Chemical Senses, 21: 135–145.
Dennys, V. 1991. Approche du rôle de la perception gustative dans la différenciation et la régulation du comportement alimentaire des lémuriens. Ph.D., Université Paris XIII, Villetaneuse.
Faurion, A. 1987. Physiology of the sweet taste, pp. 130–201.InOtosson, D., ed., Progress in Sensory Physiology. Springer Verlag, Heidelberg.
Faurion, A. 1993. Why four semantic taste descriptors and why only four? 11th International Conference on the Physiology of Food and Fluid Intake. Oxford, July 1993: 58.
Ganziiorn, J. U. 1988. Food partitioning among Malagasy primates. Oecologia, 75: 436–450.
Glaser, D. 1979. Gustatory preference behavior in primates, pp. 51–61.InKroeze, J. H. A., ed., Preference Behavior and Chemoreception. I. R. L., London.
Glaser, D. and G. Hellekant. 1977. Verhaltens und electrophysiologische Experimente über den Geschmackssinn beiSaguinus midas(Callitrichidae). Folia Primatologica, 28: 43–51.
G. Hellekant, J. N. Brouwer, and H. van der Wel. 1978. The taste responses in primates to the pro-teins thaumatin and monellin and their phylogenetic implications. Folia Primatologica, 29: 56–63.
Haslam, E. 1989. Plant Polyphenols. Vegetable Tannins Revisited. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Hellekant, G., C. M. Hladik, V. Dennys, B. Simmen, T. W. Roberts, D. Glaser, G. Dubois, and D. E. Walters. 1993. On the sense of taste in two Malagasy primates(Microcebus murinusandEulemur mongoz).Chemical Senses, 18: 307–320.
Hladik, A. 1980. The dry forest of the west coast of Madagascar: climate, phenology, and food available for prosimians, pp. 3–40.InCharles-Dominique, P., H. M. Cooper, A. Hladik, C. M. Hladik, E. Pagès, G. F. Pariente, A. Petter-Rousseaux, J. J. Petter, and A. Schilling, eds., Nocturnal Malagasy Primates: Ecology, Physiology, and Behavior. Academic Press, New York.
Hladik, A. and C. M. Hladik. 1977. Signification écologique des teneurs en alcaloïdes des végétaux de la forêt dense: résultats des tests préliminaires effectués au Gabon. Revue d’Ecologie (Terre et Vie), 31: 515–555.
Hladik, C. M. 1979. Diet and ecology of Prosimians, pp. 307–357.InDoyle, G. A., and R. D. Martin, eds., The Study of Prosimian Behavior. Academic Press, New York.
Hladik, C. M. and D. J. Chivers. 1994. Foods and the digestive system, pp. 65–73. In Chivers, D. J., and P. Langer, eds.,The Digestive System in Mammals: Food, Form and Function. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Hladik, C. M., and L. Gueguen. 1974. Géophagie et nutrition minérale chez les primates sauvages. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences de Paris, III, 279: 1393–1396.
Hladik, C. M., and P. Pasquet. In press. Evolution des comportements alimentaires: adaptations mor-phologiques et sensorielles. Bulletins et Mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris.
Hladik, C. M., and B. Simmen. 1996. Taste perception and feeding behavior in nonhuman primates and human populations. Evolutionary Anthropology, 5: 161–174.
Huffman, M. A., and M. Seifu. 1989. Observations on the illness and consumption of a possibly medicinal plantVernonia amygdalina(Del.), by a wild chimpanzee in the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania. Primates, 30: 51–63.
Iaconelli, S., C. M. Hladik, P. Pasquet, and B. Simmen. 1998. Tannin perception: comparative studies on taste thresholds in a non-human primate and among samples of human populations. Poster presented at the 17th Congress of the International Primatological Society, Antananarivo.
Johns, T., and M. Duquette. 1991. Detoxification and mineral supplementation as functions of geophagy. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 53: 448–456.
Lyman, B., and B. Green. 1990. Oral astringency: effects of repeated exposure and interactions with sweeteners. Chemical Senses, 15: 151–164.
Mckey, D., O. F. Linares, C. R. Clement, and C. M. Hladik. 1993. Evolution and history of tropical forests in relation to food availability - Background, pp. 17–24.InHladik, C. M., A. Hladik, O. E. Linares, H. Pagezy, A. Semple, and M. Hadley, eds., Tropical Forests, People, and Food. Biocultural Interactions and Applications to Development. UNESCO/Parthenon, Paris.
Setz, E. Z. F, J. Enzweiler, V. N. Solferini, M. P. Amêndola, and R. S. Berton. In press. Geophagy in the golden-faced saki monkeyPithecia pithecia chrysocephalain the Central Amazon. Journal of Zoology.
Simmen, B. 1994. Taste discrimination and diet differentiation among New World primates, pp. 150–165. In Chivers, D. J., and P. Langer, eds., The Digestive System in Mammals: Food, Form and Function. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Simmen, B. and C. M. Hladik. 1988. Seasonal variation of taste threshold for sucrose in a prosimian speciesMicrocebus murinus.Folia Primatologica, 51: 152–157.
Simmen, B. 1998. Sweet and bitter taste discrimination in primates: scaling effects across species. Folia Primatologica, 69: 129–138.
Simmen, B., B. Josseaume, and M. Atramentowicz. In press. Frugivory and taste responses to fructose and tannic acid in a prosimian primate and a didelphid marsupial. Journal of Chemical Ecology.
Struhsaker, T. T., D. O. Cooney, and K. S. Siex. 1997. Charcoals consumption by Zanzibar red colobus monkeys: its function and ecological and demographic consequences. International Journal of Primatology, 18: 61–72.
Swain, T. 1979. Tannins and lignins, pp. 657–682.InRosenthal, G. A., and D. H. Janzen, eds., Herbivores, their Interaction with Secondary Plant Metabolites. Academic Press, New York.
Terborgh, J. 1983. Five New World Primates. A Study in Comparative Ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Van Buren, J. 1970. Fruit phenolics, pp. 269–304.InHulme, A. C., ed., The Biochemistry of Fruits and their Products, vol. 1. Academic Press, London.
Wrangham, R. W., and P. G. Waterman. 1983. Condensed tannins in fruits eaten by chimpanzees. Biotropica, 15: 217–222.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Simmen, B., Hladik, A., Ramasiarisoa, P.L., Iaconelli, S., Hladik, C.M. (1999). Taste Discrimination in Lemurs and Other Primates, and the Relationships to Distribution of Plant Allelochemicals in Different Habitats of Madagascar. In: Rakotosamimanana, B., Rasamimanana, H., Ganzhorn, J.U., Goodman, S.M. (eds) New Directions in Lemur Studies. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4705-1_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4705-1_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-7131-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-4705-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive