Gomez et al. 2017 (Article) Animals

The use of epiphytic Bromeliads by Ateles geoffroyi Kuhl (Primates, Mammalia) in Chiapas, Mexico

Author(s):—N. Gomez-Escamilla, B. Téllez-Baños, A. Espejo-Serna & A.R. López-Ferrari

Publication:—Journal of the Bromeliad Society 66(1): 26-33. (2017)

Abstract:—Fauna associated with epiphytic plants comprises a great variety of animals. Some studies document the presence of several groups of insects and amphibians associated with bromeliads, particularly those species with tank rosettes. However, the information about the relation of bromeliads with mammals is less frequent. With respect to the primates who live in America and their association with epiphytic bromeliads we have only few examples: the individuals of Leontopithecus rosalia, the golden lion tamarin, from the Atlantic coast of Brazil, forages among local bromeliad species as a part of their omnivorous diet . The members of the species Callithrix geoffroyi, the white-faced marmoset, also used bromeliads in the same way in Espirito Santo, Brazil. There are also reports about the seed dispersion of three epiphytic taxa of Bromeliaceae (Quesnelia humilis Mez, Q. testudo Lindm., Nidularium antoineanum Wawra), by some species of mammals in southeastern Brazil.