Nature 259, 459 - 462 (12 February 1976); doi:10.1038/259459a0

Body weight, diet and home range area in primates

Katharine Milton^† & Michael L. May^*‡

^†Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, New York 10003
^‡Department of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32601
^*Present address: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801.

Primates show a strong positive relationship between body weight and home range area. Dietary habits also influence home range area. Folivorous primates occupy smaller home range areas for their body weight than do frugivores and omnivores. Primates generally require smaller home range area per individual than solitary terrestrial mammals, but primates living in social groups have much larger total home range than individual solitary mammals. This trend may necessitate higher expenditures of energy in food-gathering or modifications in movement patterns.

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