Effect of color vision phenotype on the foraging of wild white-faced capuchins, Cebus capucinus

TY - JOUR

T1 - Effect of color vision phenotype on the foraging of wild white-faced capuchins, Cebus capucinus

AU - Vogel, Erin R.

AU - Neitz, Maureen

AU - Dominy, Nathaniel J.

N1 - Funding Information: We are grateful for the intellectual and material contributions of A. Chaine, C.H. Janson, W.-H. Li, P.W. Lucas, B.L.W. Miller, P.J. Perry, J.N. Thompson, S. Yi, and the UC-Santa Cruz Molecular Ecology and Evolutionary Genetics Facility. We are grateful for the field assistance of A.F. Jiménez, J.C. Ordonez, Y. Teplitsky, T. Pendergast, and A. Cronin. We received research permission from the Costa Rican Servicio de Parques Nacionales (MINAE), ACT, and Finca El Pelón de la Bajura. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Stony Brook University approved our protocols. E.R.V. received funding from the National Science Foundation (DIG 23720-1021441-1), the Leakey Foundation (431-1770A), the Organization for Tropical Studies, a Graduate Aid in Areas of National Need Fellowship, and the Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University (Slobodkin Research and Sokal Travel Awards). N.J.D. received a Ruth L. Kirchenstein National Institute of General Medical Sciences National Service Research Award and support from the UC-Santa Cruz Committee on Research.

PY - 2007/3

Y1 - 2007/3

N2 - New World monkeys exhibit a color vision polymorphism. It results from allelic variation of the single-locus middle-to-long wavelength opsin gene on the X chromosome. Females that are heterozygous for the gene possess trichromatic vision. All other individuals possess dichromatic vision. The prevailing hypothesis for the maintenance of the color vision polymorphism is through a consistent fitness advantage to heterozygous trichromatic females. Such females are predicted to be more efficient than dichromats when detecting and selecting fruit. Recent experiments with captive callitrichid primates provided support for this hypothesis by demonstrating that color vision phenotype affects behavioral responses to contrived food targets. Yet, the assumptions that trichromatic females acquire more calories from fruit, or that number of offspring is linked to caloric intake, remain untested. Here, we assess if, in the wild, heterozygous trichromatic individuals in a group of white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus) enjoy an energetic advantage over dichromats when foraging on fruit. Contrary to the assumptions of previous theoretical and experimental studies, our analysis of C. capucinus foraging behavior shows that trichromats do not differ from dichromats in their fruit or energy acquisition rates. For white-faced capuchins, the advantage of trichromatic vision may be related to the detection of predators, animal prey, or fruit under mesopic conditions. This result demonstrates the importance of using a fitness currency that is relevant to individual animals to test evolutionary hypotheses.

AB - New World monkeys exhibit a color vision polymorphism. It results from allelic variation of the single-locus middle-to-long wavelength opsin gene on the X chromosome. Females that are heterozygous for the gene possess trichromatic vision. All other individuals possess dichromatic vision. The prevailing hypothesis for the maintenance of the color vision polymorphism is through a consistent fitness advantage to heterozygous trichromatic females. Such females are predicted to be more efficient than dichromats when detecting and selecting fruit. Recent experiments with captive callitrichid primates provided support for this hypothesis by demonstrating that color vision phenotype affects behavioral responses to contrived food targets. Yet, the assumptions that trichromatic females acquire more calories from fruit, or that number of offspring is linked to caloric intake, remain untested. Here, we assess if, in the wild, heterozygous trichromatic individuals in a group of white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus) enjoy an energetic advantage over dichromats when foraging on fruit. Contrary to the assumptions of previous theoretical and experimental studies, our analysis of C. capucinus foraging behavior shows that trichromats do not differ from dichromats in their fruit or energy acquisition rates. For white-faced capuchins, the advantage of trichromatic vision may be related to the detection of predators, animal prey, or fruit under mesopic conditions. This result demonstrates the importance of using a fitness currency that is relevant to individual animals to test evolutionary hypotheses.

KW - Frugivory

KW - M/L cone opsin polymorphism

KW - Primates

KW - Trichromatic vision

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U2 - 10.1093/beheco/arl082

DO - 10.1093/beheco/arl082

M3 - Article

SN - 1045-2249

VL - 18

SP - 292

EP - 297

JO - Behavioral Ecology

JF - Behavioral Ecology

IS - 2

ER -