Arrived in the light: diel and seasonal activity patterns in wild Verreaux?s sifakas (Propithecus v. verreauxi; Primates: Indriidae)

Erkert, Hans G.; Kappeler, Peter M.

doi:10.1007/s00265-004-0845-y

Cited by 118 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Accordingly, we identified at least three and up to five alleles in Indri. *Single sun = diurnal with some activity at dawn/dusk [13,15,16] (note: detailed data are lacking for many species), moon = nocturnal [16], double sun = highly diurnal [13,14]. Figure 2.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel opsin gene variation in large-bodied, diurnal lemurs

et al. 2017

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Some primate populations include both trichromatic and dichromatic (redgreen colour blind) individuals due to allelic variation at the X-linked opsin locus. This polymorphic trichromacy is well described in day-active New World monkeys. Less is known about colour vision in Malagasy lemurs, but, unlike New World monkeys, only some day-active lemurs are polymorphic, while others are dichromatic. The evolutionary pressures underlying these differences in lemurs are unknown, but aspects of species ecology, including variation in activity pattern, are hypothesized to play a role. Limited data on X-linked opsin variation in lemurs make such hypotheses difficult to evaluate. We provide the first detailed examination of X-linked opsin variation across a lemur clade (Indriidae). We sequenced the X-linked opsin in the most strictly diurnal and largest extant lemur, Indri indri, and nine species of smaller, generally diurnal indriids (Propithecus). Although nocturnal Avahi (sister taxon to Propithecus) lacks a polymorphism, at least eight species of diurnal indriids have two or more X-linked opsin alleles. Four rainforest-living taxa-I. indri and the three largest Propithecus species-have alleles not previously documented in lemurs. Moreover, we identified at least three opsin alleles in Indri with peak spectral sensitivities similar to some New World monkeys.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel opsin gene variation in large-bodied, diurnal lemurs

et al. 2017

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“…Light level and ambient temperature sensors in tandem with accelerometry permit examination of activity timing in relation to environmental conditions [58][59][60][61]. Accelerometers and remotely-sensed location via GPS, compass, depth or acoustic sensors provide the spatial distributions of accelerometer-determined behaviors [62][63][64][65][66] and can lead to novel insights about species' behavioral ecology.…”

Section: Survey Of Questions Currently Served By Accelerometry: Bodymentioning

confidence: 99%

Observing the unwatchable through acceleration logging of animal behavior

et al. 2013

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Behavior is an important mechanism of evolution and it is paid for through energy expenditure. Nevertheless, field biologists can rarely observe animals for more than a fraction of their daily activities and attempts to quantify behavior for modeling ecological processes often exclude cryptic yet important behavioral events. Over the past few years, an explosion of research on remote monitoring of animal behavior using acceleration sensors has smashed the decades-old limits of observational studies. Animal-attached accelerometers measure the change in velocity of the body over time and can quantify fine-scale movements and body postures unlimited by visibility, observer bias, or the scale of space use. Pioneered more than a decade ago, application of accelerometers as a remote monitoring tool has recently surged thanks to the development of more accessible hardware and software. It has been applied to more than 120 species of animals to date. Accelerometer measurements are typically collected in three dimensions of movement at very high resolution (>10 Hz), and have so far been applied towards two main objectives. First, the patterns of accelerometer waveforms can be used to deduce specific behaviors through animal movement and body posture. Second, the variation in accelerometer waveform measurements has been shown to correlate with energy expenditure, opening up a suite of scientific questions in species notoriously difficult to observe in the wild. To date, studies of wild aquatic species outnumber wild terrestrial species and analyses of social behaviors are particularly few in number. Researchers of domestic and captive species also tend to report methodology more thoroughly than those studying species in the wild. There are substantial challenges to getting the most out of accelerometers, including validation, calibration, and the management and analysis of large quantities of data. In this review, we illustrate how accelerometers work, provide an overview of the ecological questions that have employed accelerometry, and highlight the emerging best practices for data acquisition and analysis. This tool offers a level of detail in behavioral studies of free-ranging wild animals that has previously been impossible to achieve and, across scientific disciplines, it improves understanding of the role of behavioral mechanisms in ecological and evolutionary processes. AbstractResumen: El comportamiento es un mecanismo importante de la evolución y que se paga a través del gasto de energía. Sin embargo, los biólogos de campo raramente observan los animales durante más de una fracción de sus actividades y los intentos de cuantificar el comportamiento para el modelado de los procesos ecológicos a menudo excluyen eventos crípticos pero importantes. En los últimos años se produjeron avances importantes en el monitoreo remoto del comportamiento de los animales, utilizando sensores de telemétro de aceleración (acelerómetros) que empujan los límites tradicionales de los estudios observacionales. Acelerómetros uni...

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“…To that end, we carried out automated long-term activity recordings in several individuals of A. a. azarai using accelerometer/data logger devices that allow uninterrupted recordings over a span of 6 months. These devices had already been used for long-term activity recordings in red fronted lemurs (Eulemur fulvus rufus) and Verreaux's sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi verreauxi) in Western Madagascar [Kappeler and Erkert, 2003;Erkert and Kappeler, 2004].…”

Section: Foliamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For the fi rst recording period, the Actiwatch AW4 devices were inserted into a small waterproof aluminum box attached to a plasticcoated stainless steel strip [Erkert and Kappeler, 2004]. For the second recording period, the devices were protected only by several layers of broad adhesive tape (Tesaband) coated by a thin acrylic spray layer.…”

Section: Study Site and Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cathemerality and Lunar Periodicity of Activity Rhythms in Owl Monkeys of the Argentinian Chaco

Fernández-Duque¹,

Erkert²

2006

IJFP

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Although most South American owl monkeys are mainly nocturnal, Aotus azarai azarai of the Argentinean Chaco regularly shows diurnal activity. In this study we examined the strong influence of moonlight on its diurnal and nocturnal activity, as well as the interaction of moonlight effects with other exogenous factors. We analyzed long-term automated activity recordings obtained with accelerometer collars from 7 owl monkeys during 2003 and 2004. Our data show marked lunar periodic and seasonal modulations of the owl monkeys’ activity pattern. On full moon days they were active throughout the whole night and displayed reduced activity during the day. With a new moon, activity decreased during the dark portion of the night, peaked during dawn and dusk and extended over the bright morning hours. Waxing and waning moons induced a significant increase in activity during the first and the second half of the night, respectively. During the cold winter months the monkeys displayed twice as much activity throughout the warmer bright part of the day than during the rest of the year. These findings indicate that A. a. azarai is mainly a dark-active species, but is still able to shift a considerable portion of activity into the bright part of the day if unfavourable lighting and/or temperature conditions prevail during the night.

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Arrived in the light: diel and seasonal activity patterns in wild Verreaux?s sifakas (Propithecus v. verreauxi; Primates: Indriidae)

Cited by 118 publications

References 61 publications

Novel opsin gene variation in large-bodied, diurnal lemurs

Novel opsin gene variation in large-bodied, diurnal lemurs

Observing the unwatchable through acceleration logging of animal behavior

Cathemerality and Lunar Periodicity of Activity Rhythms in Owl Monkeys of the Argentinian Chaco

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