What percentage range of food sources does fruit constitute for Cebus capucinus?
50 to 80%
Fruit forms the foundational element of the white-faced capuchin's diet, often representing the largest source of their caloric intake. Specifically for Cebus capucinus, studies indicate that fruit consumption routinely spans the range of 50 to 80 percent of their total food sources. This high dependency on fruit necessitates careful selection, as they employ their senses of smell, touch (prodding), and taste to verify the quality and ripeness of the fruit before ingestion. Although they consume a wide variety of plant species, their focus remains on extracting the sweet pulp and juice, usually discarding the seeds and the surrounding fibrous material, a behavior which incidentally promotes the dispersal of these plant species throughout the forest ecosystem.
