The Socioecology of Eulemur Macaco: A Preliminary Report

Colquhoun, Ian C.

doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-2412-4_2

Cited by 70 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The data from this study also clearly suggest that cathemeral activity among the black lemur population of Ambato Massif is not a phenomenon related to the seasonal Black Lemur Cathemerality 31 changes in food resource availablity during the dry season [18,26]. The E. macaco macaco at Ambato Massif exhibited cathemeral activity year-round.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

“…On the basis of this apparent seasonal pattern, Engqvist and Richard suggested that such seasonality in cathemeral activity may be related to a dry season dietary shift away from frugivory towards greater consumption of leaves and/or flowers and nectar. Yet, while the black lemurs of Ambato exhibited just such a dietary shift in response to the change in resource availability during the dry season of Madagascar's Sambirano region [18,26], there was no clear concomitant increase in cathemeral activity. Certainly, black lemur diurnal activity at Ambato dropped drastically during the dry season; for example, in June sleeping accounted for 50.5% of diurnal IARs and 'resting' activities made up 79.3% of diurnal IARs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Note that this seasonal breakdown, in which time blocks through the night were paired for comparison, was based more strictly on meteorological data [18]; the above breakdown examining seasonality in activity required 6-month periods -October to April and April to September -to be paired for comparison. Before statistical analysis of these activity distributions was conducted, raw data totals for each 2-hour time block under light and dark moon conditions, for both the wet and dry seasons, were weighted (as above).…”

Section: Black Lemur Cathemerality 25mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…between July 1991 and October 1992 [18]. Ambato, within sight of the islets of Nosy Be and Nosy Komba, lies on the coast approximately 30 km north of the town of Ambanja (fig.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During diurnal observations, focal animal data on recognized individuals from one of the four study groups were recorded at 5-min intervals [18]. Except for opportunistic observations along the forest edge near camp, however, direct observation of black lemur nocturnal activity was precluded because of the difficult terrain at Ambato and the presence of Potamochoerus.…”

Section: Data Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cathemeral Behavior of Eulemur macaco macaco at Ambato Massif, Madagascar

Colquhoun¹

1998

IJFP

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A 15-month field study of Eulemur macaco macaco socioecology at Ambato Massif revealed year-round cathemeral activity. There were both daily and seasonal rhythms of diurnal behavior. However, as measured by vocalizations and group movements, the relative occurrence of nocturnal activity was not markedly seasonal and apparently followed the phases of the moon. Increased nocturnal activity was noted when the moon was waxing and during the full moon. These nocturnal activity data are preliminary, as they were gathered by indirect methods. Nonetheless, these data strongly suggest that black lemurs do not exhibit a seasonal increase in cathemeral activity in association with the scarcity of fruit resources during the austral winter and a concomitant need to increase consumption of leaves, flowers or nectar.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Black Lemur Cathemerality 25mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…between July 1991 and October 1992 [18]. Ambato, within sight of the islets of Nosy Be and Nosy Komba, lies on the coast approximately 30 km north of the town of Ambanja (fig.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Data Acquisitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cathemeral Behavior of Eulemur macaco macaco at Ambato Massif, Madagascar

Colquhoun¹

1998

IJFP

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Primate natal coats: A preliminary analysis of distribution and function

Treves

1997

Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.

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Pelage coloration of infants was compiled for 138 species of primates. Three functional hypotheses--alloparental, infant defense, and paternity cloak--for primate natal coats are tested. Neonatal pelage contrasted with adult pelage in over half of the species examined. Subtle or inconspicuous contrast was more common than flamboyant contrast. Natal coats began to change at 5.7 weeks and disappeared by 18.0 weeks postpartum on average. The first body part to lose natal coloration was the head and/or dorsum in the majority of species. Functional analyses provided no support for the only published hypothesis--alloparental--while providing partial support for two new hypotheses--infant defense and paternity cloak. A significant association between testes weight and natal coat contrast supports a link between mating system and infant contrast. This is discussed in terms of infanticide avoidance. Natal coats are proposed to be categorically differentiated into inconspicuous and flamboyant types, not differentiated by a continuous gradation, such as color. Subspecific differentiation and patterns of shared ancestry are assessed.

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Lemur traits and Madagascar ecology: Coping with an island environment

Wright¹

1999

Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.

510

496

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The last decade's lemur research includes successes in discovering new living and extinct species and learning about the distribution, biogeography, physiology, behavior, and ecology of previously little-studied species. In addition, in both the dry forest and rain forest, long-term studies of lemur demography, life history, and reproduction, have been completed in conjunction with data on tree productivity, phenology, and climate. Lemurs contrast with anthropoids in several behavioral features, including female dominance, targeted female-female aggression, lack of sexual dimorphism regardless of mating system, sperm competition coupled with male-male aggression, high infant mortality, cathemerality, and strict seasonal breeding. Hypotheses to explain these traits include the "energy conservation hypothesis" (ECH) suggesting that harsh and unpredictable climate factors on the island of Madagascar have affected the evolution of female dominance, and the "evolutionary disequilibrium hypotheses" (EVDH) suggesting that the recent megafauna extinctions have influenced lemurs to become diurnal. These hypotheses are compared and contrasted in light of recent empirical data on climate, subfossils, and lemur behavior. New data on life histories of the rain forest lemurs at Ranomafana National Park give further support to the ECH. Birth seasons are synchronized within each species, but there is a 6-month distribution of births among species. Gestation and lactation lengths vary among sympatric lemurs, but all lemur species in the rain forest wean in synchrony at the season most likely to have abundant resources. Across-species weaning synchrony seen in Ranomafana corroborates data from the dry forest that late lactation and weaning is the life history event that is the primary focus of the annual schedule. Lemur adaptations may assure maximum offspring survival in this environment with an unpredictable food supply and heavy predation. In conclusion, a more comprehensive energy frugality hypothesis (EFH) is proposed, which postulates that the majority of lemur traits are either adaptations to conserve energy (e.g., low basal metabolic rate (BMR), torpor, sperm competition, small group size, seasonal breeding) or to maximize use of scarce resources (e.g., cathemerality, territoriality, female dominance, fibrous diet, weaning synchrony). Among primates, the isolated adaptive radiation of lemurs on Madagascar may have been uniquely characterized by selection toward efficiency to cope with the harsh and unpredictable island environment.

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The Socioecology of Eulemur Macaco: A Preliminary Report

Cited by 70 publications

References 16 publications

Cathemeral Behavior of Eulemur macaco macaco at Ambato Massif, Madagascar

Cathemeral Behavior of Eulemur macaco macaco at Ambato Massif, Madagascar

Primate natal coats: A preliminary analysis of distribution and function

Lemur traits and Madagascar ecology: Coping with an island environment

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