Social Pair-Bonding and Resource Defense in Wild Red-Bellied Lemurs (Eulemur rubriventer)

Overdorff, Deborah J.; Tecot, Stacey R.

doi:10.1007/978-0-387-34586-4_11

Cited by 36 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Little research has focused on the RDH in primates [but see Dr€ oscher & Kappeler, 2014;Fernandez-Duque, this volume;Hilgartner et al, 2012;Overdorff & Tecot, 2006;van Schaik & Dunbar, 1990]. Van Schaik and Dunbar [1990] argued that the RDH was unconvincing in explaining "monogamy" (i.e., pair-living and pair-bonding) for primates because there is (1) a lack of interspecific territoriality, (2) frequent occurrence of range overlap, and (3) no evidence that resource defense is essential for reproduction.…”

Section: Reassessing the Rdh In E Rubriventermentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Previous research investigated whether the RDH could explain "monogamy" in the redbellied lemur (E. rubriventer) [Overdorff & Tecot, 2006]. This species lives in pairs that are bonded and mate monogamously (i.e., the same male and female exhibit an exclusive mating relationship that lasts at least 6 years, and based on genetic evidence the male-female pair are the parents of the group's offspring) [Merenlender, 1993;Overdorff, 1991;Overdorff & Tecot, 2006].…”

Section: Reassessing the Rdh In E Rubriventermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Why “monogamy” isn't good enough

Tecot

Singletary²,

Eadie

2015

American J Primatol

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Rare in mammals but more common in primates, there remains a considerable controversy concerning whether primate species traditionally described as monogamous actually express this highly specialized breeding pattern. Unfortunately the definition of "monogamy" varies greatly, inhibiting our understanding of this trait and two related traits with which monogamy is often conflated: pair-living and pair-bonding. Strepsirrhine primates are useful models to study factors that select for pair-living, pair-bonding, and monogamy because this taxon exhibits high incidences of each trait, in addition to species that exhibit behaviors that reflect combinations of these traits. Several hypotheses have been articulated to help explain the evolution of "monogamy," but again, these hypotheses often conflate pair-living, pair-bonding, and/or monogamy. In this review, we (1) propose clear, discrete, and logical definitions for each trait; (2) review variation in strepsirrhines with respect to these three traits; (3) clarify which of these traits can be explained by existing hypotheses; and (4) provide an example of the applicability of the Resource Defense Hypothesis (RDH) to understand two of these traits, pair-living and pair-bonding, in the red-bellied lemur (Eulemur rubriventer). Available data support the RDH for pair-living in red-bellied lemurs. They live in stable family groups with one adult pair. Both sexes actively codefend territories that overlap little with other pairs' territories. Agonism is extremely rare within groups and intergroup and interspecific agonism varies with food availability. Available data also support the RDH for pair-bonding. Pair-bonds are cohesive year-round. Pairs coordinate behaviors to defend territories with auditory and olfactory signals. Cohesion increases with food abundance and both sexes reinforce bonds. We indicate where additional data will help to more rigorously test the RDH for each trait and encourage others to test alternative hypotheses.

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Section: Reassessing the Rdh In E Rubriventermentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Reassessing the Rdh In E Rubriventermentioning

confidence: 99%

Why “monogamy” isn't good enough

Tecot

Singletary²,

Eadie

2015

American J Primatol

Self Cite

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“…Although all of the Eulemur species showed 'signatures', those of E. rubriventer, in particular, and also of E. mongoz, were the most different from the other species. Interestingly, whereas most Eulemur species have a MM-MF social system, both E. rubriventer [39,40] and E. mongoz [38] form pair bonds and are presumably monogamous. Perhaps monogamy played a role in the differentiation of their signals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For this study, we selected eight species from the genus Eulemur. These animals live in relatively small, family or social groups (thereby precluding a study of social complexity defined by group size), in which mates are either pair-bonded and relatively faithful or live in MM-MF groups and engage in more promiscuous mating [38][39][40]. Uniquely, although female dominance characterizes most of Lemuridae, the Eulemur clade contains the only exceptional species (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eulemur , me lemur: the evolution of scent-signal complexity in a primate clade

delBarco‐Trillo

Sacha

Dubay

et al. 2012

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Signal complexity has been linked to social complexity in vocal, but not chemical, communication. To address this gap, we examined the chemical complexity of male and female glandular secretions in eight species of Eulemur. In this diverse clade of macrosmatic primates, species differ by social or mating system and dominance structure. We applied principal component and linear discriminate analyses to data obtained by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Beyond the significant effects on chemical signals of gland type, sex, season and species, we found effects of social variables and phylogeny. Notably, female odours were more chemically complex in multimale-multifemale species than pair-bonded species, whereas male odours were more chemically complex in codominant species than female-dominant species. Also, the traditional sexual dimorphism, whereby male signal complexity exceeds that of females, was present in codominant species, but reversed in female-dominant species. Lastly, a positive relationship between the species' pairwise chemical distances and their pairwise phylogenetic distances supported a gradual, but relatively fast mode of signal evolution. We suggest that the comparative method can be a powerful tool in olfactory research, revealing species differences relevant to the understanding of current signal utility and evolutionary processes. In particular, social complexity in lemurs may have selected for olfactory complexity.

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“…Events that are rare on the timescale of 1 year may still be quite important over the demographic timescale relevant for a long lived rainforest tree, some of which may live hundreds of years. These three lemur species were observed to emigrate from their natal groups at least once in their lifetime [Baden, 2011;Overdorff & Tecot, 2007;Overdorff et al, 1999]; therefore they may contribute to long dispersal of their food trees that are fruiting during their emigration period. Primates with more fluid social structures, such as group fissionfusion strategy observed in E. rufifrons [Erhart & Overdorff, 2008a;Overdorff et al, 1999], can also cover large ranges leading to a higher probability of seed dispersal across different microsites and a scattered seed dispersal pattern [Chapman & Russo, 2006].…”

Section: Seed Dispersal Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of movement and seed dispersal by three lemur species

Razafindratsima

Jones

Dunham

2013

American J Primatol

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We combined data on gut-passage times, feeding, and movement to explore the patterns of seed dispersal by Eulemur rubriventer, Eulemur rufrifrons, and Varecia variegata editorum lemurs in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. These lemur species deposited less than half of their consumed seeds >100 m away from conspecific trees (40-50%). Long-distance dispersal (>500 m) was rare and average dispersal distances were short relative to those reported of similar-sized haplorrhine primates. The three lemur species showed no significant differences in mean seed-dispersal distances. However, they differed in the shape of their frequency distributions of seed-dispersal distances as a result of differences in how they moved through their habitats. The short distances of seed dispersal we observed and the depauperate frugivorous fauna in Madagascar suggest seed-dispersal may be more limited than in other tropical forests with important implications for plant-community dynamics, biodiversity maintenance, and restoration efforts in Madagascar.

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Social Pair-Bonding and Resource Defense in Wild Red-Bellied Lemurs (Eulemur rubriventer)

Cited by 36 publications

References 52 publications

Why “monogamy” isn't good enough

Why “monogamy” isn't good enough

Eulemur , me lemur: the evolution of scent-signal complexity in a primate clade

Patterns of movement and seed dispersal by three lemur species

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