Go for Lipids! Food Preferences and Nutrient Composition in Zoo-Housed White-Faced Sakis, Pithecia pithecia

Abstract The role that single nutrients may play for food choices in nonhuman primates is not fully understood. White-faced sakis ( Pithecia pithecia ) are unusual among frugivorous as they do serve seed dispersers but rather exploit the seeds consume, presumably their high contents of lipids and proteins. Therefore, we assessed occurrence spontaneous preferences zoo-housed white-faced analyzed whether these correlate with nutrient composition. Using a two-alternative choice test, repeatedly presented three female two male all possible binary combinations 15 types part diet under human care, found them to display following rank order preference: peanut > hazelnut avocado melon egg apple mealworms beetroot carrot cucumber cabbage tomato sweet potato broccoli eggplant. This preference ranking significantly positively correlated total energy content items. However, strongest positive correlation macronutrients providing metabolic between sakis’ lipid content. remarkable other primate species tested so far using this method displayed carbohydrates instead. Together our finding preferred foods mono-unsaturated fatty acids, building blocks lipids, results support notion contained meet requirements energy.