Data from: Comparative ecological and behavioral study of Macaca assamensis and M. mulatta in Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park, Nepal

Resource partitioning reduces resource competition between different
species within the same habitat, promoting their coexistence. To
understand how such species, co-adapt to reduce conflicts, we examined the
behaviour of two primates, the Assamese macaque (Macaca assamensis) and
the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta), from April 2017 to March 2018 in
Sivapuri Nagarjun National Park (SNNP), Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. We
performed 1,580 and 1,261 scan sessions on wild, multi-male/multi-female
groups of Assamese and rhesus macaques, respectively, at 15-minute
sampling intervals. Assamese macaques had a narrower food selection range
than rhesus macaques, with 38 and 88 plant species consumed by Assamese
and rhesus macaques, respectively. Overlapping food sources between the
macaque species resulted in a Pianka index of 0.5. Assamese macaques
consumed more items of tree, climber, and vine species, whereas rhesus
macaques fed on more shrub, herb, and grass species. The proportions of
plant parts consumed by Assamese and rhesus macaques also differed.
Assamese macaques had a smaller home range (0.55 km2) than rhesus macaques
(4.23 km2), and Assamese macaques moved more slowly (249.9 m/h) than
rhesus macaques (959.6 m/h). Although feeding times did not differ between
the two macaque species, less time was devoted to social activities by
Assamese macaques (16.0%) than by rhesus macaques (33.7%). Assamese
macaques were generally arboreal, with 94.0% of their activities conducted
in trees, whereas rhesus macaques were largely terrestrial, with 58.5% of
their activities conducted on the ground. These differences in food
selection, home range size, ranging and activity patterns, and habitat use
suggest that Assamese and rhesus macaques reduce resource competition
through resource partitioning to coexist in the same habitat.