Nocturnal activity in the cathemeral red-fronted lemur (Eulemur fulvus rufus), with observations during a lunar eclipse

Donati, Giuseppe; Lunardini, A; Kappeler, Peter M.; Tarli, Silvana M. Borgognini

doi:10.1002/1098-2345(200102)53:2<69::aid-ajp2>3.0.co;2-r

Cited by 56 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…There was often no travel during periods of night when the moon had not yet risen. This positive relationship between activity and moonlight has been frequently found among primates that are active at night (Colquhoun 1998;Donati et al 2001Donati et al , 2009Fernandez-Duque 2003;Gursky 2003;Kappeler and Erkert 2003;Donati and Borgognini-Tarli 2006;Fernandez-Duque et al 2010). The decline in luminance over time may have caused a concomitant decrease in night ranging across the deployment period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Nocturnal ranging by a diurnal primate: are ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) cathemeral?

Parga

2011

Primates

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Cathemerality, an activity pattern comprised of distinct periods of diurnal and nocturnal activity, is a trait found among several of the Malagasy strepsirhines and one species of Aotus. Because occasional anecdotal reports suggest that some diurnal primates can be active at night, I investigated the possibility of nocturnal ranging behavior in the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) by using global positioning system (GPS) collars programmed to collect data across a 24-h period. Five individuals in a provisioned, free-ranging L. catta colony on St. Catherines Island, Georgia, USA, wore GPS collars across 1 week of the mating season. Results revealed that night ranging behavior occurred between the h of 1900 and 0530. An evaluation of the effect of moonlight on nocturnal activity showed that a greater rate of travel occurred during moonlit periods as opposed to periods when the moon had not yet risen. Distance travelled at night decreased across the deployment period, likely because of a decrease in available moonlight over time, as the lemurs were collared during a waning moon. Fewer mating opportunities over time may have also been responsible for the decrease in night ranging, because the number of females in estrus declined across the deployment period. Future research is needed to separate the effects of moonlight and mating activity on night ranging in this species, as well as to evaluate whether L. catta in Madagascar show night ranging similar to L. catta on SCI. These data raise the possibility that L. catta may be cathemeral, with an activity pattern fluctuating between diurnality and cathemerality in accordance with shifts in environmental conditions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Nocturnal ranging by a diurnal primate: are ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) cathemeral?

Parga

2011

Primates

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“…increasing nocturnal activity with increasing nocturnal luminosity (Horning and Trillmich 1999;Prugh and Golden 2014). Interestingly, however, many nocturnal primates display lunarphilia (Nash 1986(Nash , 2007Bearder et al 2001;Gursky 2003), a strategy especially common among cathemeral primates (Erkert 1974(Erkert , 1976Charles-Dominique et al 1980;Wright 1989;Colquhoun 1998;Curtis et al 1999;Donati et al 1999Donati et al , 2001Donati et al , 2009Donati et al , 2013Kappeler and Erkert 2003;Fernández-Duque 2003;Donati and Borgognini-Tarli 2006;Fernández-Duque and Erkert 2006;Schwitzer et al 2007;Fernández-Duque et al 2010). This phenomenon has been explained by primates' high reliance on visual cues, resulting in increased foraging efficiency and detection of potential predators (Gursky 2003;Bearder et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In terms of proximate factors regulating activity rhythms, seasonal activity variations controlled by photoperiodic changes and low nocturnal luminosity levels have been observed in most cathemeral lemurs (Colquhoun 1998;Curtis et al 1999;Donati et al 1999Donati et al , 2001Kappeler and Erkert 2003;but see Rasmussen 1999;Tarnaud 2006), while others in less seasonal habitats were less influenced by these factors (Overdorff 1988;Overdorff and Rasmussen 1995;Andrews and Birkinshaw 1998;Vasey 2000; but see Donati and Borgognini-Tarli 2006;Donati et al 2009Donati et al , 2013. A further conflicting trait among lemurids is their disparate retinal morphologies, which clearly distinguish them from strictly nocturnal lemurs like Cheirogaleidae (Kirk 2004(Kirk , 2006.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Eppley

Ganzhorn

Donati

2015

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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A non-adherence to a strict diurnal or nocturnal activity cycle is prevalent among mammals, including taxa of Lemuridae, but rare among other primates. While nonmutually exclusive ecological hypotheses attempted to explain the evolution of this activity, termed cathemerality, as either an old or a recent phenomenon, the scarcity of systematic data collected over 24 h limits our potential to explore its proximate and ultimate determinants. Among strepsirrhines, systematic studies involving only two lemurid genera (Eulemur and Lemur) have recorded this activity pattern, while fewer quantitative observations are available for other taxa. If cathemerality could be shown in most members of Lemuridae despite their different ecological adaptations, this would support the hypothesis that this trait is basal and appeared early during lemurid evolution. Here, we investigated whether the folivorous southern bamboo lemur (Hapalemur meridionalis) exhibits cathemeral activity, and determined which environmental factors influence its pattern. We deployed ten archival tags across four social groups to continuously record activity data over a 15-month period. This allowed us to generate a diurnal/nocturnal (DN) ratio for each 24-h period and assess their diel activity. Our data suggest that southern bamboo lemurs are cathemeral within Mandena; while climatic factors showed no influence, nocturnal activity increased with greater nocturnal luminance. Despite contrasting dietary niches, visual morphologies, and body sizes between Hapalemur, Eulemur, and Lemur, all three exhibit cathemerality and lunarphilia. The close phylogenetic proximity of these lemurids supports this flexible activity pattern as an ancestral trait that likely dates to the origin of the Lemuridae radiation.

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“…Furthermore, our model revealed that H. meridionalis increased nocturnal activity when there was greater nocturnal luminosity (Eppley et al 2015a). This was not surprising given that moonlight has been shown to be similarly influential to most cathemeral (Charles-Dominique et al 1980;Wright 1989;Curtis et al 1999;Donati et al 2001Donati et al , 2009Donati et al , 2013Fernández- Thermoregulatory strategies appear to be common for many cathemeral non-primate mammals. High ambient temperatures have been shown to constrain diurnal activity in large herbivores, such as Przewalski horse (Equus ferus przewalskii) and eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus), thus reducing heat stress by remaining in the shade during the hot daytime and increasing nocturnal activity (Clarke et al 1995;Berger et al 1999).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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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Nocturnal activity in the cathemeral red-fronted lemur (Eulemur fulvus rufus), with observations during a lunar eclipse

Cited by 56 publications

References 37 publications

Nocturnal ranging by a diurnal primate: are ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) cathemeral?

Nocturnal ranging by a diurnal primate: are ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) cathemeral?

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

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

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