Developmental Timeline of Wild Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) Infants in Kianjavato and Torotorofotsy, Madagascar

Rakotondrazandry, Jeannin Nicolas; Ravelomandrato, Faranky; Sefczek, Timothy M.; Andriamalala, Yves Rostant; Frasier, Cynthia L.; Villanova, Vicki L.; Rasoloharijaona, Solofonirina; Raveloson, Herimalala; Louis, Edward E.

doi:10.1007/s10764-021-00216-4

Cited by 3 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…As a result, infanticide will cause females to enter estrus sooner, potentially benefiting the infanticidal male. Additionally, aye-aye infants take approximately 2 years to reach independence from their mother [Rakotondrazandry et al, 2021], meaning female aye-ayes have a longer interbirth interval than most lemur species [Catlett et al, 2010]. Therefore, infanticidal behavior could benefit a male aye-aye.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, since aye-ayes are solitary, reproductive opportunities with females are limited, with one female potentially attracting multiple suitors during estrus [Sterling and Richard, 1995]. Though this infant was not old enough to forage and was not sexually mature [Rakotondrazandry et al, 2021], the male may have been eliminating a future competitor. This cannot be assessed without additional information on infanticidal events involving infants of both sexes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Louis, Jr.], and have a longer interbirth interval (approx. 2 years [Rakotondrazandry et al, 2021]) than gestation period (167 days [Glander, 1994]). While weaning age is unknown, we do know that infant aye-ayes will suckle as late as 17 months old and achieve independence from their mothers as late as 23 months old [Rakotondrazandry et al, 2021].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…2 years [Rakotondrazandry et al, 2021]) than gestation period (167 days [Glander, 1994]). While weaning age is unknown, we do know that infant aye-ayes will suckle as late as 17 months old and achieve independence from their mothers as late as 23 months old [Rakotondrazandry et al, 2021]. Due to their noyau social system, adult aye-ayes rarely interact with other individuals, except for mother-infant dyads.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

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Possible Infanticidal Event of an Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) in Torotorofotsy, Madagascar

Rakotondrazandry

Sefczek²,

Frasier³

et al. 2021

IJFP

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Infanticide occurs in an array of mammalian species, especially primates. Most infanticidal events occur in polygynous societies, though they sometimes happen in nongregarious populations. We witnessed a possible infanticidal event of a 3-month-old male aye-aye, a species that exhibits a dispersed multimale social system, in Torotorofotsy, Madagascar. Though firsthand killing of the infant was not observed, physical injuries to the infant, vocalizations of the adult female, and her subsequent chase of the adult male aye-aye strongly indicates infanticide. If true, this would be the first recorded incident of an infanticidal event in a noyau primate. The evidence for three different explanations of infanticide is evaluated.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Possible Infanticidal Event of an Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) in Torotorofotsy, Madagascar

Rakotondrazandry

Sefczek²,

Frasier³

et al. 2021

IJFP

Self Cite

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“…Most studies on the ecology of D. madagascariensis have been carried out in the eastern rain forests of Madagascar [Petter and Peyrieras, 1970;Iwano and Iwakawa, 1988;Iwano, 1991;Sterling, 1993a, b;Ancrenaz et al, 1994;Erickson, 1995;Farris et al, 2011;Sefczek et al, 2012;Sedera, 2014;Solofondranohatra, 2014;Randimbiharinirina, 2015;Thompson et al, 2016;Sefczek et al, 2017;Randimbiharinirina et al, 2018, Sefczek et al, 2020aRakotondrazandry et al, 2021;Randimbiharinirina et al, 2021]. In these habitats, aye-ayes have been reported to feed on insects and larvae, fruits and seeds [Andriamasimanana, 1994], nectar and flowers [Sterling, 1993;Ancrenaz et al, 1994;Sterling, 1993b], bamboo shoots and outgrowths on trees [Pollock et al, 1985;Sterling and McCreless, 2006].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial Reintroduction of the Aye-Aye (<b><i>Daubentonia madagascariensis</i></b>) in Anjajavy Reserve, Northwestern Madagascar

Rambeloson¹,

Andriambeloson

Rasoanaivo

et al. 2021

Folia Primatol

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Madagascar’s biodiversity is imperiled by habitat loss and degradation. Furthermore, species may be locally extirpated due to targeted hunting or disease. Translocating at-risk individuals to areas devoid of the species may be an effective conservation intervention. The aye-aye, Daubentonia madagascariensis, is uniquely susceptible to hunting pressure due to a cultural superstition. In June 2018, we reintroduced two aye-ayes in the Anjajavy Reserve, a dry deciduous forest in northwestern Madagascar. The translocated individuals, an adult female and juvenile offspring, were rescued from a neighboring forest that was subjected to pressure from fires and logging. We safely secured and transported the aye-ayes to Anjajavy and put them in a quarantine enclosure, where they were subjected to biomedical and behavioral monitoring. After release in the adjacent, protected forest, we conducted post-release monitoring of the adult female using radio-tracking and scan sampling to determine ranging and activity patterns. We conducted behavioral observations from October 2018 to February 2019 and collected sleeping site data from October 2018 to September 2019. The female aye-aye fed on local resources including Canarium sp. seeds. During the study period, the aye-aye used 31 nests, occupied a home range of approximately 85 ha and travelled, on average, at a pace of 320 meters per hour. Our findings are comparable with published data on wild aye-ayes in other regions of Madagascar, and provide support for future reintroductions of adult aye-ayes, and potentially other endemic species to the natural and protected habitats of Anjajavy.

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Losing lemurs: Declining populations and land cover changes over space and time

Narváez‐Torres,

Guthrie,

Brichieri‐Colombi

et al. 2024

American J Primatol

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Forest loss and degradation due to land cover changes imperil biodiversity worldwide. Subtropical and tropical ecosystems experience high deforestation rates, negatively affecting species like primates. Madagascar's endemic lemurs face exceptionally high risks of population declines and extirpation. We examined how short‐term land cover changes within a fragmented landscape in southeastern Madagascar impacted the density of lemur species. Using line transects, we assessed density changes in nine lemur species across five forest fragments. Diurnal surveys were conducted monthly from 2015 to 2019 on 35 transects (total effort = 1268 km). Additionally, 21 transects were surveyed nocturnally in 2015 and 2016 (total effort = 107.5 km). To quantify forest cover changes, we generated land use/land cover (LULC) maps from Sentinel‐2 imagery using supervised classification for each year. For the LULC maps, we overlayed species‐specific buffers around all transects and calculated the proportion of land cover classes within them. We observed declines in the annual densities of four diurnal and cathemeral lemur species between 2015 and 2019, with species‐specific declines of up to 80% (Varecia variegata). While the density of two nocturnal species decreased, one increased fivefold (Cheirogaleus major) between 2015 and 2016. By 2019, Grassland was the dominant land type (50%), while Paddy Fields had the smallest coverage (1.03%). Mature Agricultural Land increased the most (63.37%), while New Agricultural Land decreased the most (–66.36%). Unexpectedly, we did not find evidence that higher forest cover supported a higher lemur population density within sampled areas, but we found support for the negative impact of degraded land cover types on three lemur species. Our study underscores the urgent need to address land‐use changes and their repercussions for primate populations in tropical ecosystems. The diverse responses of lemur species to modified habitats highlight the complexity of these impacts and emphasize the importance of targeted conservation efforts.

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Developmental Timeline of Wild Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) Infants in Kianjavato and Torotorofotsy, Madagascar

Cited by 3 publications

References 8 publications

Possible Infanticidal Event of an Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) in Torotorofotsy, Madagascar

Possible Infanticidal Event of an Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) in Torotorofotsy, Madagascar

Initial Reintroduction of the Aye-Aye (<b><i>Daubentonia madagascariensis</i></b>) in Anjajavy Reserve, Northwestern Madagascar

Losing lemurs: Declining populations and land cover changes over space and time

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