Mycophagy in primates of the Issa valley, Tanzania

Mycophagy (fungi consumption) is an important animal-ecosystem interaction and provides nutrients for numerous mammalian taxa, such as primates. Although mushroom consumption is a widespread behaviour in about a quarter of all known primate species, surprisingly little is known about their use of mushrooms as either a staple or fallback food, and the relationship between mushroom availability and consumption. We used direct observational data on mushroom consumption in the diet of three sympatric primate species: Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) and Red-tailed monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius) from 2019-2022, and yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus) from 2015-2022 in a mosaic woodland habitat in the Issa valley, western Tanzania, to address these gaps. We analysed mushroom consumption patterns and assessed mushroom availability from line transects for a period of 15 months (Oct 2022 – Dec 2023). Our findings show that mushrooms were a consistent dietary component for all three..., , , # Mycophagy in primates of the Issa valley, Tanzania Dataset

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.d2547d8cj](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.d2547d8cj)

## Description of the data and file structure

This dataset contains data, metadata, and code required to replicate the analyses of the study \"Mycophagy in primates of the Issa valley, Tanzania\". The primary objective of this research was to investigate the role of mushrooms in the diet of three sympatric primate species (Chimpanzees, *Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii*; Yellow baboon, *Papio cynocephalus*; Red-tailed monkey, *Cercopithecus ascanius*) in Western Tanzania.

Files containing data are all CSV formatted. The script used for the analyses was created in R.

##### Dates of data collection

* Food consumption data of chimpanzees: 2019-2023
* Food consumption data of red-tailed monkeys: 2019-2023
* Food consumption data of yellow baboons: 2015-2022
* Fruit Availability Index (FAI): 2019-2023
* Rainfall: 2019-2023
* Mushroom availability: ...,