Although primates have remarkable olfactory capabilities, their ability for olfactory predator recognition is still understudied. We investigated this cognitive ability in wild gray and golden-brown mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus and M. ravelobensis) that were confronted with four different olfactory stimuli, derived from two Malagasy predators (fossa and barn owl) and two local nonpredator species (brown lemur and sifaka). The predator response was tested (1) in a systematic cage setup and (2) in a two-way choice experiment with two Sherman traps on platforms in the forest (stimulus trap vs. nonstimulus trap). For part 1, the study animals were housed in cages during habituation and 5 days of experiments. One stimulus was tested per night and was presented underneath a drinking bottle. The changes in the time spent close to the stimulus and the drinking time at the bottle were used as indicators of predator recognition. A timidity score was established by classifying the strength of the antipredator response during the experiment. The study animals spent significantly less time drinking and less time in the stimulus area when confronted with fossa odor compared with the other stimuli. The timidity score was significantly higher during the fossa stimulus compared with the nonpredator and the control stimuli. The two-way choice experiments revealed a complete avoidance of the fossa odor, which was not found with the other stimuli. Thus, wild mouse lemurs showed clear signs of olfactory predator recognition in the case of the fossa in both experiments, but no signs of avoidance to the other presented stimuli. The lack of owl avoidance may be explained by less or no aversive metabolites in the owl stimulus or by lower significance for olfactory recognition of aerial predators. Furthermore, the results showed slight differences between the two mouse lemur species that may be linked to differences in their ecology. Am. J. Primatol. 73:928-938, 2011.

No abstract

The life history of mammals underlies a fast-slow continuum, ranging from "slow" species with large body size, delayed sexual maturation, low fertility, and long lifespan, to "fast" species showing the opposite traits. Primates fall into the "slow" category, considering their relatively low offspring numbers and delayed juvenile development. However, social and sexual maturation processes do not necessarily have to be completed simultaneously. The comparison of the timeframes for sexual and social maturation is largely lacking for primates, with the prominent exception of humans. Here, we compare both maturation processes in a basal primate, the gray mouse lemur, which ranges in many aspects at the fast end of the slow-fast life history continuum among primates. We compared the patterns and frequencies of various social and solitary behaviors in young adults (YA, 12-13 months old) and older individuals (A, ≥2 years) of both sexes outside estrus. Observations were conducted during mix-sexed dyadic encounter experiments under controlled captive conditions (eight dyads per age class). Results indicate that although all young adults were sexually mature, social maturation was not yet completed in all behavioral domains: Age-dependent differences were found in the number of playing dyads, female marking behavior, female aggression, and social tolerance. Thus, this study provides a first indication that social maturation lags behind sexual maturation in an ancestral nocturnal primate model, indicating that these two developmental schemes may have been decoupled early and throughout the primate lineage.

The ontogeny and establishment of dominance relationships in young individuals have been investigated in various group-living, diurnal primates but respective information is almost entirely lacking for nocturnal, non-gregarious species. As in many other mammals male primates often represent the dominant sex, but the opposite phenomenon (female dominance) is particularly frequent in lemurs, although almost nothing is known about its development. Therefore, we investigated the development of intersexual dominance in parallel to age-related changes in other relevant behaviors in the gray mouse lemur, a solitary forager with female dominance. In particular, the temporal trajectories of social play, marking behavior, social tolerance, and agonistic behaviors were characterized in captive dyads of three different age categories (ACs), among juveniles (ACI: 4-5 months, N = 6), adolescents (ACII: 8-9 months, N = 8) and young adults (ACIII: 12-13 months, N = 8). Data were collected during a series of three encounter experiments between one male and one female per dyad and age category (total observation time: 49.5 hr). Play behavior was observed in all age classes, although the number of playing dyads decreased with increasing age. A significant age-dependent increase in marking behavior was found in females, especially in substrate rubbing and urine washing, but not in males. Although conflict rates did not differ significantly between ACs, females started to win more conflicts from ACII onwards, and social tolerance decreased partly with increasing age. Clear dominance relationships were not observed in ACI and first indications of dominant females were found in ACII with an increasing number in ACIII. This study provides first information about the ontogeny of female dominance in a nocturnal primate and shows that this behavior develops relatively late during ontogeny. In conclusion, this study provides evidence for significant changes in the social lives of maturing mouse lemurs and a rather late social maturation in this species.

In several studies of different species, the proportions of male and female offspring did not match the statistical assumption of 50:50. Aside from environmental and genetic factors, biological parameters were found to influence the sex ratio. Three hypotheses (Trivers-Willard, advantaged daughter, and the local resource competition hypothesis) have been proposed, stating that the sex of progeny might be influenced by sex-biased maternal investment in the raising of offspring. The results of existing studies are still conflicting, even within studies on the same species. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the dominance status of cows influences the secondary sex ratio. A herd of lactating cows was observed directly for 126 h, and a dominance index (DI) was established for 71 individuals (aged between 2.6 and 9.8 yr) for which at least 8 encounters had been observed to categorize individuals as subordinate, intermediate, or dominant. Furthermore, the number and sex of calves were assessed, and further individual characteristics of the animals (e.g., age, milk yield, body condition, and lameness scores) were analyzed for interrelationships with dominance status as well as the influence of the DI on the secondary sex ratio. The results indicated that the DI was independent of age, but a negative correlation was found between DI and lameness, whereas a positive correlation was shown for DI and body condition score. In general, more dominant animals had lower lameness scores and better body conditions. No sex ratio bias was found for primi- or for pluriparous animals and no seasonal influences were detected. The proportion of male offspring was significantly correlated with the DI of lactating cows, where animals with a higher social rank produced a lower proportion of male progeny. The pairwise comparison between dominant and subordinate lactating cows revealed a significant difference in the sex ratios of progeny, with subordinate animals having more male calves. These results indicate that the maternal dominance rank was associated with the secondary sex ratio in cattle. These observations are generally in agreement with the advantaged daughter hypothesis.