The care and feeding of primates in captivity, be they
human or other, seems based on a somewhat limited scientific basis. Observation
of pathologies or limitations that have been related to nutritional or
metabolic “misadventures” perhaps has been the foundation, at least in earlier
times for design of “optimal diets.” That has changed from recommendationsrelated to “four basic food groups” to the today’s more extensiverecommendations for humans. But, what is appropriate for our relatives? Diet
has been subject to great interest across many fields. Teeth have been examined
to separate carnivore from herbivore and frugivores, with some identified as
belonging to omnivores. Of course, even herbivores and frugivores occasionally
consume meat, so identifying normal diet is more complicated. Semantics may
play a role as insectivores are consuming non-plant materials, so are they
carnivores?
One approach to identifying dietary proclivities is to
examine gastric contents. For an animal captured in the wild, that of course,may simply identify the result of foraging in the environment in which thatparticular animal was found. Examination of the fossil record for stomach
contents is also challenging.
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