WHY DOES A LION-TAILED MACAQUE FIRST STORES ITS FOOD IN ITS POUCH AND EATS IT LATER??????????

Dear Student,

The pouch of Lion tailed Macaque is an adaptation found in them for defence.

Lion tailed Macaque are the arboreal and diurnal animals. They mainly feed on fruits. They are good climbers and spend most of their life in the trees. Unlike other macaques, it avoids humans. They are reluctant to travel through open gaps in the forest for the fear of predators. For the sake of safety they live at the canopy of the tall trees. For foraging they have to traverse all the levels of the forest. Lion tailed Macaque have developed a way to restrict their time for foraging. Thus, they have Cheek pouches which when fully extended can store food up to a quantity equivalent to their stomach capacity. They collect food at fast rate with their hands and quickly stuff their pouches.  Then they move to the safety of the canopy of trees for and eat their food. Since they can gather and store large amount of food per visit, they limit the amount of time that they are exposed to their predators. Due to these reasons, they do not come to the ground.

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