Stone tools improve diet quality in wild monkeys

Autor(es)

Izar, Patricia ; Peternelli-dos-Santos, Lucas ; Rothman, Jessica M. ; Raubenheimer, David ; Presotto, Andrea ; Gort, Gerrit ; Visalberghi, Elisabetta M. ; Fragaszy, Dorothy M.

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Current Biology; v. 32, n. 18, p. 9-pg., 2022-09-26.

Resumo

Tool use is a fundamental feature of human evolution. Stone tools are in the archaeological record from 3.4 Ma, even before Homo,1 and the use of stone tools probably predated the split between hominins and pan-ins.2 Using tools (hereafter, tooling cf Fragaszy and Mangalam3) is hypothesized to have improved hominins' foraging efficiency or access to high-quality foods.4-7 This hypothesis is supported if feeding with tools posi-tively contributes to diet quality in extant non-human primates or if foraging efficiency is increased by tooling. However, the contribution of tooling to non-human primates' foraging success has never been investigated through a direct analysis of nutritional ecology.8,9 We used multi-dimensional nutritional geometry to analyze energy and macronutrients (nonstructural carbohydrates, lipids, and protein) in the diets of wild capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinous) that routinely crack palm nuts with stone hammers.10,11 We show that eating nuts obtained through tooling helps monkeys to achieve more consistent dietary intakes. Tooling increased the net energy gain by 50% and decreased the proportion of fiber ingested by 7%. Tooling also increased the daily non-protein energy intake. By contrast, protein intake remained constant across foraging days, sug-gesting a pattern of macronutrient regulation called protein prioritization, which is also found in contempo-rary humans.8,9 In addition, tooling reduced dispersion in the ratio of protein to non-protein energy, suggest-ing a role in macronutrient balancing. Our findings suggest that tooling prior to tool making could have substantially increased the nutritional security of ancestral hominins, sowing the seeds for cultural develop-ment.5,7 (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 11/21032-2 - Parâmetros nutricionais da dieta de duas populações de macacos-prego: comparação entre Mata Atlântica (Cebus nigritus) e ecótono Cerrado/Caatinga (Cebus libidinosus)
• Beneficiário: Patrícia Izar Mauro
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular
• Processo FAPESP: 11/11504-4 - Parâmetros nutricionais da dieta de duas populações de macacos-prego: comparação entre Mata Atlântica (Cebus nigritus) e ecótono Cerrado-Caatinga (Cebus libidinosus)
• Beneficiário: Lucas Peternelli Corrêa dos Santos
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado