Cathemerality in a small, folivorous primate: proximate control of diel activity in Hapalemur meridionalis

Eppley, Timothy M.; Ganzhorn, Jörg U.; Donati, Giuseppe

doi:10.1007/s00265-015-1911-3

Cited by 74 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 105 publications

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“…For the purpose of this study, however, the data are limited to collared adult individuals from January -December 2013, as this period corresponds to our behavioural observations. Capture and anaesthesia procedures have been previously described in Eppley et al (2015a). Seven of these individuals were recaptured following the same procedures and data were retrieved manually from the tags.…”

Section: Study Site and Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From these information we were able to calculate both daylength (h) and astronomical twilight (-18° below horizon; Erkert 2011; Eppley et al 2015a). We then generated a nocturnal luminosity index (NL) through indirect evaluations of moon phase and transit times using the geographic coordinates of Mandena via an ad hoc program, Moon Ultimate determinants of Hapalemur cathemerality 9 v.2.0 (Curtis et al 1999), allowing us to estimate the amount of lunar light available over the course of a specific night.…”

Section: Astronomical Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2013, the mean temperature in Mandena was 22.5°C (monthly mean range: 18.5 -26.7°C), displaying an absolute range between 9.5 -35.0°C (Eppley et al 2016b). Precipitation (mm) was measured daily at 6:00h using a rain gauge placed within the study site (Eppley et al 2015a). …”

Section: Climatic Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One haplorhine species, Aotus azarae, regularly displays a cathemeral activity pattern (Fernández-Duque 2003), while the remaining cathemeral primates are limited to the strepsirrhine family Lemuridae, endemic to Madagascar (Donati and Borgognini-Tarli 2006b). While it has been hypothesized that cathemerality in lemurs is the product of a non-adaptive disequilibrium in a transition from nocturnality to diurnality Ultimate determinants of Hapalemur cathemerality 5 enabled by the recent extinction of large diurnal raptors and of competitive lemur species (Martin 1972;van Schaik andKappeler 1993, 1996;Kappeler and Erkert 2003), most evidence lends support for cathemerality likely representing a stable adaptation in lemurs (Curtis and Rasmussen 2006;Kirk 2006;Donati et al 2007aDonati et al , 2009Donati et al , 2013Eppley et al 2015a;Santini et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, several studies of frugivorous primates, e.g., Eulemur rubriventer (Overdorff 1988), E. fulvus mayottensis (Tattersall 1979;Tarnaud 2006), and E. collaris (Donati et al 2007a(Donati et al , 2009), have linked diel activity to dietary changes and fibrous food, such as leaves (Donati et al 2016). However, recent evidence of a diel activity pattern in a folivorous primate, the southern bamboo lemur Hapalemur meridionalis (Eppley et al 2015a), adds a layer of complexity surrounding this potential ultimate determinant of lemurid cathemerality. The gastrointestinal tract of these relatively small mammals includes an enlarged, sacculated caeco-colon, which assists in their elevated ability to digest fibre (Martin 1990;Overdorff and Rasmussen 1995;Campbell et al 2004), allowing for leafy material to be fermented by symbiotic gut microbes across an average food-transit time of 18-36 h, as measured in a closely-related species (Fidgett et al 1996;Campbell et al 2000Campbell et al , 2004Perrin 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Predator avoidance and dietary fibre predict diurnality in the cathemeral folivore Hapalemur meridionalis

Eppley

Watzek

Ganzhorn

et al. 2016

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Though numerous mammalian taxa exhibit cathemerality (i.e., activity distributed across 24-h cycle), this includes very few primates, exceptions being species from Aotinae and Lemuridae. Four non-mutually exclusive hypotheses have been proposed to explain ultimate determinants for cathemeral activity in lemurs: thermoregulatory benefits, anti-predator strategy, competition avoidance, and metabolic dietary-related needs. However, these have only been explored in the frugivorous genus Eulemur, with some species increasing nocturnality as a possible response to avoid diurnal raptors and to increase their ability to digest fibre during resource scarce periods. Since Eulemur lack specialisations for digesting bulk food, this strategy would allow for processing fibres over the full 24-h. The folivorous lemurids, i.e., genus Hapalemur, provide a divergent model to explore these hypotheses due to gastrointestinal adaptations for digesting dietary fibre and small body size compared to Eulemur. We linked continuous activity data collected from archival tags with observational behaviour and feeding data from three groups of adult H. meridionalis from JanuaryDecember 2013. We tested the effects of thermoregulation, anti-predator, and the weighted proportion of dietary fibre on the daily diurnal/nocturnal activity ratio using a Linear MixedModel. Our best-fit model revealed that increased canopy exposure and dietary fibre predicted greater diurnality. Our findings contrast with previous predictions for frugivorous lemurids, proposing a divergent adaptive explanation for folivorous lemurids. We suggest that the need to avoid terrestrial predators, as well as the longer digestive bouts during periods of bulky food, may override cathemerality in favour of diurnality in these bamboo lemurs.

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Section: Study Site and Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Astronomical Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Climatic Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Predator avoidance and dietary fibre predict diurnality in the cathemeral folivore Hapalemur meridionalis

Eppley

Watzek

Ganzhorn

et al. 2016

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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Activity patterns in seven captive lemur species: Evidence of cathemerality in Varecia and Lemur catta?

Bray

Samson

Nunn

2017

American J Primatol

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Cathemerality, or activity throughout the 24-hr cycle, is rare in primates yet relatively common among lemurs. However, the diverse ecological conditions under which cathemerality is expressed complicates attempts to identify species-typical behavior. For example, Lemur catta and Varecia have historically been described as diurnal, yet recent studies suggest that they might exhibit cathemeral behavior under some conditions. To investigate this variation, we monitored activity patterns among lemurs that are exposed to similar captive environments. Using MotionWatch 8 ® actigraphy data loggers, we studied 88 lemurs across seven species at the Duke Lemur Center (DLC). Six species were members of the family Lemuridae (Eulemur coronatus, E. flavifrons, E. mongoz, L. catta, V. rubra, V. variegata), while a seventh was strictly diurnal and included as an out-group (Propithecus coquereli). For each 24-hr cycle (N = 503), we generated two estimates of cathemerality: mean night (MN) activity and day/night (DN) activity ratio (day and night cutoffs were based on astronomical twilights). As expected, P. coquereli engaged in the least amount of nocturnal activity according to both measures; their activity was also outside the 95% confidence intervals of all three cathemeral Eulemur species, which exhibited the greatest evidence of cathemerality. By these estimates, Varecia activity was most similar to Eulemur and exhibited substantial deviations from P. coquereli (β (MN) = 0.22 ± SE 0.12; β (DN) = -0.21 ± SE 0.12). L. catta activity patterns also deviated from P. coquereli (β (MN) = 0.12 ± SE 0.11; β (DN) = -0.15 ± SE 0.12) but to a lesser degree than either Varecia or Eulemur. Overall, L. catta displayed an intermediate activity pattern between Eulemur and P. coquereli, which is somewhat consistent with wild studies. Regarding Varecia, although additional observations in more diverse wild habitats are needed, our findings support the existence of cathemeral behavior in this genus.

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Determinants of terrestrial feeding in an arboreal primate: The case of the southern bamboo lemur (Hapalemur meridionalis)

Eppley

Donati

Ganzhorn

2016

American J Phys Anthropol

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Cathemerality in a small, folivorous primate: proximate control of diel activity in Hapalemur meridionalis

Cited by 74 publications

References 105 publications

Predator avoidance and dietary fibre predict diurnality in the cathemeral folivore Hapalemur meridionalis

Predator avoidance and dietary fibre predict diurnality in the cathemeral folivore Hapalemur meridionalis

Activity patterns in seven captive lemur species: Evidence of cathemerality in Varecia and Lemur catta?

Determinants of terrestrial feeding in an arboreal primate: The case of the southern bamboo lemur (Hapalemur meridionalis)

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