Important Factors In Lemur Disease Ecology
The time of arrival of domestic animals in Madagascar has been inferred through the fossil dung spore, Sporomiella Burney et al., 2003 , and suggests that domestic animals arrived early after humans began inhabiting the island about 2000 years ago. Such human encroachment has had a dramatic effect on Madagascar's endemic flora and fauna. Today, a rapidly increasing human population is forcing primates and humans into more direct contact. In particular, transmission of diseases between wild...
Diet and Tooth Morphology
Primates, like most mammals, possess heterodont dentitions, with virtually all taxa having incisors, canines, premolars, and molars see reviews in Martin, 1990 Swindler, 2002 Tattersall, 1982 . Living lemurs also share the derived tooth-comb with other members of the Strepsirhini the aye-aye Daubentonia mada-gascariensis is the one exception e.g., Martin, 1990 Swindler, 2002 Tattersall, 1982 . Despite sharing a common heritage likely resulting from a single ancestral colonization of Madagascar...
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changes they were higher during food availability and males marked twice as often as females at this time x2 5.1, p lt 0.03, df 1, Figure 4 . The only form of within-group aggression recorded was cuffing and was rarely observed n 20, rate 0.01 hr DJO, n 19, rate 0.007 hr SRT . Only two of these exchanges occurred during feeding in February when food was scarce. The majority of cuffs n 20 were observed between parents and unweaned offspring. In each of these cases, the adult female carrying the...
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However, differences are almost statistically significant 0.05 lt p lt 0.1 , and would possibly be significant if sample size was enlarged. Hence, statistically significant differences in grooming behavior are expected, if more data were available, and would corroborate subjective impressions from observations. Food Resources. Food resources in both species have been analyzed in detail elsewhere Thalmann, 2001 and results are shortly summarized here. Both species fed primarily on leaves over...
The Ancestral Mouse Lemur What Can We Tell By Now
Behavioral traits can be used in order to reconstruct evolutionary scenarios and traits of common ancestors of species groups e.g., Plavcan, 1999 Nunn and van Schaik, 2002 . I will apply this principle to mouse lemur biology in order to detect universal traits in the different habitats of Madagascar that might allow us to learn about their common ancestor. On the basis of our present knowledge, seasonal reproduction in mouse lemurs appears to be universal. The exact mechanism of reproductive...
References Jkz
Agrawal, K. R., Lucas, P. W., Bruce, I. C., and Prinz, J. F. 1998 . Food properties that influence neuromuscular activity during human mastication. Journal of Dental Research 77 1931-1938. Asher, R. J. 1998 . Morphological diversity of anatomical strepsirrhinism and the evolution of the lemuriform toothcomb. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 105 355-368. Atsalis, S. 1999 . Diet of the brown mouse lemur Microcebus rufus in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. International Journal of...
Ectothermic Pattern Of Body Temperature Regulation During Hibernation
Besides reproduction another important energy expenditure in endotherms is the maintenance of their relatively high body temperature, especially when ambient temperature is low. Hibernation is the most powerful means for endotherms to reduce this cost Heldmaier et al., 2004 and is therefore seen as an important adaptation to survive predictably unfavorable periods. It is usually defined by a controlled reduction of metabolic rate down to a fraction of the euthermic level, and a substantial...
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greater flexibility in the joints. Though the fourth finger is the longest finger on the hand, the middle finger achieves exceptional reach because the metacarpal to which it is attached acts as an extension base and the web of skin between the second and fourth fingers has been suppressed Jouffroy, 1975 . A ball and socket joint at the metacarpophalangeal articulation allows for extraordinary flexibility in every direction. The aye-aye's hand has evolved in such a way as to allow for increased...
SEASONAL ADAPTATIONS OF MOUSE LEMURS Reproduction
Most lemur species are well known for their seasonal reproduction e.g., Jolly, 1984 Richard and Dewar, 1991 Sterling, 1994 Wright, 1999 . Although this is also true for all mouse lemur species studied so far, some intra- and interspecific differences have been detected recently. The onset of female cycling activities has been shown to depend largely on photoperiodic changes but also partly on temperature and body condition e.g., Perret and Aujard, 2001 Randrianambinina et al., 2003b ....
Dental Development and Microstructure
In addition to variation in tooth form and function, lemurs display a wide variety of dental developmental patterns. In fact, lemur dental development often does not play by the rules with the quickest pace of tooth formation and eruption sometimes occurring among the largest forms, a pattern which contrasts with the general pattern seen in anthropoid primates e.g., Godfrey et al., 2005, this volume Schwartz and Godfrey, 2003 Schwartz et al., 2002 . Of note, patterns of dental development...
References Fir
Albrecht, G. H., Jenkins, P. D., and Godfrey, L. R. 1990 . Ecogeographic size variation among the living and subfossil prosimians of Madagascar. American Journal of Primatology 22 1-50. Balko, E. A. 1998 . A behaviorally plastic response to forest composition and logging disturbance by Varecia variegata variegata in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. Ph.D. dissertation, State University of New York-Syracuse, Syracuse, NY. Banks, M. 2002 . Littoral forest primate fauna in the Tolagnaro Fort...
Diet And Feeding Ecology
The ring-tailed lemur has been classified as a frugivore folivore and an opportunistic omnivore Sauther, 1998 Sauther et al., 1999 Simmen et al., 2006a and is able to adapt to marked shifts in diet following the wet and dry seasons. In fact, the feeding ecology of L. catta is finely tuned to the seasonality of their food resources and certain key species are relied upon during different phases of the reproductive cycle Sauther, 1998 . Probably the most important food resource for...
Distribution Of Mouse Lemur Species
There are currently seven described mouse lemur species inhabiting western Madagascar. Their distribution pattern falls into two categories species with a broad distribution range such as the grey mouse lemur M. murinus and species with a regional or even locally restricted distribution range M. griseorufus, M. berthae, M. myoxinus, M. ravelobensis, M. sambiranensis, M. tavaratra Figure. 1a,b . The distribution range of M. murinus extends from the southern region of Tolagnaro Martin, 1972...
References Gsd
Bauchop, T. 1978 . Digestion of leaves in vertebrate arboreal folivores. In Montgomery, G. G. ed. , The Ecology of Aboreal Folivores. New York, Academic Press, pp. 193-204. Britt, A., Randriamandratonirina, J., Glasscock, K. D., and Iambana, B. R. 2002 . Diet and feeding behavior of Indri indri in a low-altitude rain forest. Folia Primatologica 73 225-239. Cartmill, M. 1974 . Pads and claws in arboreal locomotion. In Jankins, F. A. ed. , Primate Locomotion. New York, Academic Press, pp. 45-83....
Basic Morphology 1
Indriids have reduced the number of premolars from the standard number of three to two Table 1 , and Daubentonia has a single, peglike upper premolar. The upper premolars vary among the families. In cheirogaleids the first two premolars are bladelike. Among the lemurids and cheirogaleids, P4 has a well-developed proto-cone, though it is not molariform except in Hapalemur and Lepilemur Tattersall, 1982 . This tooth in L. catta is also broad and molarlike, although with some individual variation,...
Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics
The brown lemur group varies in karyotypes and chromosome morphology, and these characters may be used to distinguish the three species. All E. fulvus subspecies share a common diploid number 2N 60 and have similar morphology in G-, Q-, and R-banding patterns Rumpler, 1975 Hamilton and Buettner-Janusch, 1977 Hamilton et al., 1980 . In contrast, E. collaris is polymorphic in karyotype 2N 50, 51, 52 , with 2N 51 individuals with a heteromorphic metacentric acrocentric pair likely resulting from...
Indicators of Dental Health 1
The postcanine dentition is central for food processing, therefore, the patterns of dental pathology in premolars and molars are most often related to diet and the breakdown of food. This contrasts with patterns seen in the anterior teeth across primates, in which dental damage often leading to disease results from social behaviors, for example interindividual aggression Lovell, 1990 Smith et al., 1977 or, in the case of ring-tailed lemurs at Beza Mahafaly, the possible impact of human activity...
Social System
Systematic study of nocturnal primates in general is difficult due to observation conditions at night and to lack of ability to detect signals that animals may use to communicate with one another. Nocturnal primates, including aye-ayes, often communicate with olfactory signals that are temporally deferred in their delivery, and with vocalizations that researchers cannot always trace to their source Sterling and Richard, 1995 . Nocturnal primates were long believed to have simpler and more...
References Kgj
Anapol, F., and Lee, S. 1994 . Morphological adaptation to diet in platyrrhine primates. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 94 239-261. Anderson, K. J., and Jetz, W. 2005 . The broad-scale ecology of energy expenditure of endotherms. Ecol. Lett. 8 310-318. Burney, D. A. 1999 . Rates, patterns, and processes of landscape transformation and extinction in Madagascar. In MacPhee, R D. E. ed. , Extinction in Near Time. New York, Kluwer Plenum, pp. 145-164. Burney, D. A., James, H. F., Grady, F. V.,...
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Figure 2. Schematic representations of the three cathemeral modes during austral summer and austral winter. A, B Mode A n 2 combines data from Ampijoroa 16 19'S 46 49'E and Anjamena 16 03'S 45 55'E . C, D Mode B n 4 combines data from Ampijoroa, Kirindy 20 03'S 45 55'E , Sainte Luce 24 45'S 47 11'E , and Pointe Saziley, Mayotte 12 58'S 45 11'E . E, F Mode C n 1 shows data from Andreba 17 38'S 48 31'E . Gray areas indicate time periods before sunrise and after sunset, the times of which were...
Conservation Implications
Ganzhorn and colleagues 1999 showed that low-level disturbance can have a large impact on forests and lemur populations. Recent surveys and censuses of lemurs have shown that there has been continued deforestation, fragmentation, and hunting in unprotected forested areas of Madagascar Irwin et al., 2000, 2005 Lehman and Wright, 2000, 2005, Sussman et al., 2003 . In a 2005 global mammal assessment, critically endangered species of lemurs were assessed, and these included Eulemur albocollaris,...
Contributors
Frank P. Cuozzo, Department of Anthropology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota USA Deborah J. Curtis, School of Human amp Life Sciences, Roehampton University, London, United Kingdom K. H. Dausmann, Department of Ecology and Conservation, Biocenter Grindel, University Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany Joanna Fietz, Department of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany Benjamin Z. Freed, Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Laurie R....
References Hkr
Albignac, R. 1981 . Variabilit de l'organisation territoriale et cologie de Avahi laniger l murien nocturne de Madagascar . Comptes Rendus de l'Acad mie des Sciences Paris 292 Ser. III 331-334. Albignac, R., and Razanahoera-Rakotomalala, M. 1982 . Strat gies alimentaires compar es de deux l muriens folivores sympatrique de Madagascar Avahi et Lepilemur. Soci t Fran aise pour l'Etude du Comportement Animal, Bulletin int rieur, 1982 1. Andriaholinirina, N., Rabarivola, C., Hauwy, M., and Rumpler,...
Colonial And Precolonial Times
May I announce to you that Madagascar is the naturalist's promised land wrote the botanist Philibert de Commerson in 1771. Nature seems to have retreated there into a private sanctuary, where she could work on different models from any she has used elsewhere. There you meet bizarre and wondrous forms at every step . . . . What an admirable country, this Madagascar. Of course it was the foreigner's eye, in an age of great scientific expeditions, which saw the lemurs and pitcher plants and...
Introduction And History
The primate order has traditionally been subdivided into diurnal and nocturnal species, a dichotomy that is broadly reflected in their taxonomic division into haplorhines and strepsirhines. The former are predominantly day-active, while the latter are predominantly night-active, with notable exceptions found in both groups. The focus of this chapter will be on the strepsirhine true lemurs Lemuridae , the majority of which are neither diurnal nor nocturnal, but exhibit a mixture of daytime and...
Basic Morphology
Maxillary incisors range within and among Malagasy lemurs from entirely absent Lepilemur or reduced lemurids, Avahi to relatively prominent cheirogaleids, indriids see Table 1 Martin, 1972 Tattersall, 1982 . Maxillary canine size varies considerably among lemurs, with some taxa exhibiting very large i.e., high canines, relative to first molar size see Table 3 in Godfrey et al., this volume . Daubentonia has no permanent canines Swindler, 2002 Tattersall, 1982 . In Hapalemur, the maxillary...
Evolution Of Cathemerality
Two hypotheses have been proposed to explain the evolution of cathemerality in lemurs. The Evolutionary Disequilibrium Hypothesis EDH states that cathe-merality is of recent origin, representing a transitional stage between nocturnality and diurnality and the result of evolutionary disequilibrium caused by the relatively recent extinction of large-bodied lemurs and large aerial predators Martin, 1972 Tattersall, 1982 van Schaik and Kappeler, 1996 . The second hypothesis proposes cathemerality...
The Tertiary Fossil Record Outside Madagascar
The earliest fossil primate that undisputably bears a toothcomb is Karanisia clarki, described from a small sample of isolated teeth and jaw fragments by Seiffert et al. 2003 . These specimens, which include a canine crown indicating the presence of a toothcomb, come from late middle Eocene probably ca. 40 myr old sediments of the Birket Qarun Formation, in the Egyptian Fayum. Karanisia is interpreted by its describers as dentally not only lorisiform but lorisid, possibly representing a sister...
Overview Of Lemur Health And Disease
In considering the significance of disease in wild lemurs it is useful to consider what is currently known about both wild and captive lemur health. A number of biomedical surveys document a variety of natural maladies. In many cases individuals are able to survive quite dramatic natural health insults, including severe otitis externa ear infection Figure 1 , and facial trauma Figure 2 , probably of predator origin. Wild lemurs are often able to cope well with such maladies. For instance, the...
SPATIAL ECOLOGY Home Range
Rainforest sifakas occupy home ranges of 30 to 80 ha. At Mantadia, two P. diadema groups used home ranges of 33 and 42 ha Powzyk, 1997 , while P. edwardsi at Talatakely have similar-sized home ranges 38 ha Wright, 1995 Powzyk, 1997 , as do P. candidus at Marojejy 44 ha E. Patel, personal communication . P. diadema groups in continuous forest at Tsinjoarivo occupy between 70 and 80 ha but groups in fragments occupy 20-37 ha Irwin, 2006 . In contrast, sifakas in the drier forests of the north...
Natural Hybrid Zones
With the lack of consensus regarding taxonomy in these studies, it may be informative to examine the dynamics of wild populations of brown lemurs at the boundaries of their parapatric distributions. Specifically, natural hybrid zones may provide insight into the history and trajectories of these neighboring but differentiated taxa. Two such brown lemur contact zones have thus far been identified E. f. ful-vus xE. f. rufus Lehman and Wright, 2000 and E. f. rufus xE. albocollaris Sterling and...
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a This is not an exhaustive list but provides a good overview. a This is not an exhaustive list but provides a good overview. Table 3. Bacteria isolated from fecal cultures of wild lemurs E. coli, Enterobacter, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter Enterococcus, Staphylococcus intermedius, E. coli, Escherichia, Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Klebsiella oxytoca E. coli, Klebsiella ozaenae, Acinetobacter lwofii, Enterobacter amnigenus Enterococcus, Staphylococcus, E. coli, Streptococcus,...