Effects of diet and age–sex class on the fecal particle size of wild Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata yakui)

Abstract

Fecal particle size provides important information on the feeding and digestion of herbivores. Understanding the effects of the potential proximate determinants on fecal particle size helps us interpret this widely used measurement. In folivores, previous studies found that diet composition, dietary toughness, and age–sex-related factors, such as body size and tooth wear, influenced fecal particle size. However, the role of these factors remains unknown in frugivorous and omnivorous primates. This study aims to clarify how age–sex class and diet influence fecal particle size in omnivorous Japanese macaques in Yakushima. We expected that their variable diet and differences among age–sex classes would cause variations in fecal particle size. We simultaneously documented Japanese macaques' diet, dietary toughness, and fecal particle size in the lowland area of Yakushima in the period from March 2018 to April 2019. Unexpectedly, fecal particle size showed limited differences across months and no difference among age–sex classes. Dietary toughness showed no effects on fecal particle size, while the consumption of fruits showed only a marginally significant negative effect. Our data indicate that the results of chewing were not affected by dietary toughness in our study subjects, while age–sex classes showed no difference in food comminution. This lack of variation might derive from a diet with low dietary toughness. We also found that the physical structure of preferred foods played an important role in fecal particle size variations. These results suggest that food comminution is less variable in frugivorous and omnivorous primates compared to highly specialized species (e.g., geladas). Factors other than what we examined in this study, such as food physical structure and chewing behavior, should also be taken into consideration.