Site icon HORNBILL DISPERSED FRUIT OF BORNEO

Eusideroxylon (Belian) seeds predated by Red Langurs and Porcupines at Sepilok

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Eusideroxylon zwageri Belian IMG_0079
An immature seed of Eusideroxylon zwageri  (Belian) abandoned on the Rainforest Discovery Center Canopy Walkway  by a squirrel at Sepilok in Sabah.

According to Davies (1991) Seed eating by Maroon Langurs, Belian is the most common non-dipterocarp tree in the Sepilok forests. The immature seeds of Belian are predated by Red Langurs Presbythis rubicunda.

Red Langurs are the most common seed and leaf eating primates in the lowland forests of Borneo.
Long-tailed Porcupines at Sepilok also collected fallen Belian seeds and took them back to store at their burrows for later consumption. This habit is known as larder hoarding. Sometimes the porcupine dies before it can eat the seeds. Porcupines are thus both predators and dispersers of Belian seeds.

 

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