ANT 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Insectivore, Digestion, Cecum
Document Summary
Many things: insects fruits, leaves gums, seeds/nuts, nectar flowers grasses bark But many species have special adaptations for a particular type of food. Can have tough exoskeleton high in fats and proteins. Secreted by trees to protect wounds mostly a source of energy and minerals. Plants want seeds dispersed, so package in tasty fruit. But hard rind for protection high in sugars, fiber. Seeds and nuts some frugivores also eat seeds and nuts. Plants use them to get energy don"t want them eaten! = lots of antifeedants chemicals to discourage eating. = foods eaten more than expected, given their abundance in the environment. Typically relatively high quality, easy to process. That is why the primates prefer them. = the foods eaten when preferred foods are not available. Typically lower quality than preferred foods, harder to process. This is why they are not preferred. Intense selection for ability to process fallback foods when preferred food abundance is low.
