Possible asynchronous parturition in a multifetal strepsirrhine: Hapalemur meridionalis

Eppley, Timothy M.; Donati, Giuseppe; Ganzhorn, Jörg U.

doi:10.21451/1984-3143-ar785

Cited by 1 publication

(3 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Though we did not conduct any genetic analyses to determine the relationships between individuals, it should be noted that there was only one adult male per group studied. As H. meridionalis groups in Mandena display territoriality and minimal home range overlap (Eppley et al, 2015a(Eppley et al, , 2016d, we presume it unlikely any extra-pair copulations occurred and each group's resident male fathered the infant(s) within that group (Eppley et al 2016b).…”

Section: Study Site and Speciesmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Bamboo lemur species have been recorded to mate between June and July, providing a gestation length of approximately 130-140 days (Tan, 2006;Wright, 1990). In spite of not observing H. meridionalis copulation during the study period, we relied on published congener observations to approximate their gestation length; infants were first observed in mid-November (Eppley et al, 2016b). Therefore, we considered the months of June and July to be the "mating season", during which time the females are likely to be sexually receptive.…”

Section: Study Site and Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most lemurs are sexually quiescent throughout much of the year and exhibit strict seasonal breeding (Brockman and van Schaik, 2005;Jolly, 1967;Rasmussen, 1985;Sauther 1998; for exceptions see: Tecot, 2010), including H. meridionalis (Eppley et al, 2016b). In terms of group sociality, this led us to consider that adult females would adjust their relationships during breeding times in order to benefit from their dominance ranking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climatic, social and reproductive influences on behavioural thermoregulation in a female-dominated lemur

et al. 2017

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It is well-established that social rank in a large group confers a higher adaptive value to a dominant individual relative to others, though there is scant evidence that members of small social groups either have similar social standing or maintain strict dominance. We aimed to determine whether members of small social groups, using the southern bamboo lemur (Hapalemur meridionalis) as a model, gain rank-related benefits. We first established a dominance hierarchy through a network-based analysis of win-loss interactions, which showed that adult females maintained social dominance within their groups, similar to many strepsirrhine species. To address whether dominant individuals gained rank-related benefits, we then explored how social dynamics may permit access to resting huddles, which provide a physiological benefit. Social thermoregulation, i.e. huddling, is a behavioural energy conservation mechanism, and among many mammals is a direct response to decreasing ambient temperatures. As such, huddling behaviour may have evolved among social animals because of its potential direct and indirect benefits. To examine the effect of dominance rank within small social groups on huddling inclusion, we used generalized linear mixed-effects models to predict the likelihood of huddling to occur during resting bouts from climatic (e.g., temperature, precipitation), social (e.g., affiliation, dominance rank, grooming) and reproductive (e.g., access, infant protection) variables. We found that colder temperatures, especially during shorter resting bouts, increased the likelihood of huddling. Grooming between partners with a high discrepancy in rank increased huddling. Additionally, huddling increased during the reproductive season, potentially offering greater opportunity for males to gain favour with sexually receptive females, and also when new-borns were present, providing essential thermal maintenance and potential anti-predator protection to infants. Taken as a whole, our results suggest that even in small social groups, females gain rank-related benefits by controlling access to huddles, i.e., the intrinsic benefits of social thermoregulation.

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Section: Study Site and Speciesmentioning

confidence: 95%