Stable isotope variation in savanna chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) indicate avoidance of energetic challenges through dietary compensation at the limits of the range.

Objectives: Food scarcity is proposed to be a limitation to chimpanzees at the limits of their range; however, such a constraint has never been investigated in this context. We investigated patterns of δ C and δ N variation along a latitudinal gradient at the northwestern West African chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) range limit with the expectation that isotope ratios of chimpanzees at the range limit will indicate different dietary strategies or higher physiological constraints than chimpanzees further from the edge.

Materials And Methods: We measured δ C and δ N values in hair (n = 81) and plant food (n = 342) samples from five chimpanzee communities located along a latitudinal gradient in Southeastern Senegal.

Results: We found clear grouping patterns in hair δ C and δ N in the four southern sites compared to the northernmost site. Environmental baseline samples collected from these sites revealed overall higher plant δ N values at the northernmost site, but similar δ C values across sites. By accounting for environmental baseline, Δ C and Δ N values were clustered for all five sites relative to total Pan variation, but indicated a C-enriched diet at the range limit.

Discussion: Clustering in Δ C and Δ N values supports that strategic shifting between preferred and fallback foods is a likely ubiquitous but necessary strategy employed by these chimpanzees to cope with their environment, potentially allowing chimpanzees at their limits to avoid periods of starvation. These results also underline the necessity of accounting for local isotopic baseline differences during inter-site comparison.