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Folivore

{{Short description|Herbivorous animal that specializes in eating leaves}}

File:Elephant mother.jpg are an example of a mammalian folivore.]]

In zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less energy than other types of foods, and often toxic compounds.Jones, S., Martin, R., & Pilbeam, D. (1994) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press For this reason, folivorous animals tend to have long digestive tracts and slow metabolisms. Many enlist the help of symbiotic bacteria to release the nutrients in their diet. Additionally, as has been observed in folivorous primates, they exhibit a strong preference for immature leaves which tend to be easier to masticate, are higher in energy and protein, and lower in fibre and poisons than more mature fibrous leaves.

Folivory and flight

File:Opisthocomus hoazin.jpg]]

It has been observed that folivory is extremely rare among flying vertebrates.{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2389776 | jstor=2389776 | title=Do the Power Requirements of Flapping Flight Constrain Folivory in Flying Animals? | last1=Dudley | first1=R. | last2=Vermeij | first2=G. J. | journal=Functional Ecology | date=1992 | volume=6 | issue=1 | pages=101–104 }} Morton (1978) attributed this to the fact that leaves are heavy, slow to digest, and contain little energy relative to other foods. The hoatzin is an example of a flighted, folivorous bird, but it is a weak flier, due to the well-developed foregut (used to digest its food) reducing the area available for flight muscles to attach.{{Cite journal |last=Grajal |first=Alejandro |date=1995 |title=Structure and Function of the Digestive Tract of the Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin): A Folivorous Bird with Foregut Fermentation |url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v112n01/p0020-p0028.pdf |journal=The Auk |volume=112 |issue=1 |pages=20–28 |doi=10.2307/4088763}} There are, however, many species of folivorous flying insects.

Some bats are partially folivorous; their method of deriving nourishment from leaves, according to Lowry (1989), is to chew up the leaves, swallowing the sap and spitting out the remainder.{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2389930 | jstor=2389930 | title=Folivory in Bats: An Adaptation Derived from Frugivory | last1=Kunz | first1=T. H. | last2=Ingalls | first2=K. A. | journal=Functional Ecology | date=1994 | volume=8 | issue=5 | pages=665–668 }}

Arboreal folivores

Image:Bradypus.jpg]]

Arboreal mammalian folivores, such as sloths, koalas, and some species of monkeys and lemurs, tend to be large and climb cautiously.{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF02438967 | doi=10.1007/BF02438967 | title=Cautious climbing and folivory: A model of hominoid differentation | date=1995 | last1=Sarmiento | first1=E. E. | journal=Human Evolution | volume=10 | issue=4 | pages=289–321 }} Similarities in body shape and head- and tooth-structure between early hominoids and various families of arboreal folivores have been advanced as evidence that early hominoids were also folivorous.

Primates

Standard ecological theory predicts relatively large group sizes for folivorous primates, as large groups offer better collective defense against predators and they face little competition for food among each other. It has been observed that these animals nevertheless frequently live in small groups. Explanations offered for this apparent paradox include social factors such as increased incidence of infanticide in large groups.{{cite journal | url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s002650000286 | doi=10.1007/s002650000286 | title=Competition and group size in Thomas's langurs ( Presbytis thomasi ): The folivore paradox revisited | date=2001 | last1=Steenbeek | first1=R. | last2=van Schaik | first2=Carel P. | journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology | volume=49 | issue=2–3 | pages=100–110 }}

File:Alouatta-caraya ppia-m01b.jpg]]

Folivorous primates are relatively rare in the New World, the primary exception being howler monkeys. One explanation that has been offered is that fruiting and leafing occur simultaneously among New World plants. However a 2001 study found no evidence for simultaneous fruiting and leafing at most sites, apparently disproving this hypothesis.{{Cite journal|last=Heymann|first=Eckhard W.|date=2001|title=Can phenology explain the scarcity of folivory in New World primates?|journal=American Journal of Primatology|language=en|volume=55|issue=3|pages=171–175|doi=10.1002/ajp.1050|issn=1098-2345|pmid=11746280|s2cid=8344876}}

Examples

Examples of folivorous animals include:

Image:Okapi2.jpg]]

See also

References

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External links

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  • [http://www.wordquests.info/folivorous.html wordquests.info]

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Category:Herbivory

Category:Animals by eating behaviors