Ringtailed Lemur Biology Lemur catta in Madagascar

About this book

This volume includes up-to-date field research on the longest-studied and best known of lemur species. It contains articles by scientists from America, Europe, Japan and Madagascar, who combine their knowledge to describe an animal which is unique among primates, a lemur whose group structure resembles that of many monkeys, but whose behavior does not. Ringtailed lemurs, Lemur catta, are female dominant, prone to evict their cousins from social groups, and live at population densities ten times greater than monkeys. The volume treats ecology, behavior, and physiology to present current research on this unique primate. The papers review past research and add new dimensions of research related to nutrition, health, hormonal biology, plant ecology, behavioral ecology, and demography of Lemur catta.

Contents

The distribution and biogeography of the ring-tailed lemur in Madagascar.- A preliminary estimate of Lemur catta population density using satellite imagery.- Berenty Reserve: A research site in southern Madagascar.- Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve: A research site in southwestern Madagascar.- Plant species fed on by Lemur catta in gallery forests of the southern domain of Madagascar.- Tamarind recruitment and long-term stability in the gallery forest at Berenty, Madagascar.- Home ranges of ring-tailed lemur troops and the density of large trees at Berenty Reserve, madagascar.- The influence of tamarind tree quality and quantity on Lemur catta behavior.- Feeding competition between introduced Eulemur fulvus and native Lemur catta during the birth season at Berenty Reserve, southern Madagascar.- Tradition and novelty: Lemur catta feeding strategy on introduced tree species at Berenty Reserve.- Diet quality and taste perception of plant secondary metabolites by Lemur catta.- Territory as bet-hedging: Lemur catta in a rich forest and an erratic climate.- Resource defense in Lemur catta: The importance of group size.- Social changes in a wild population of ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) at Berenty, Madagascar.- Obsession with agonistic power.- Male and female ringtailed lemurs? energetic strategy does not explain female dominance.- Male sociality and integration during the dispersal process in Lemur catta: a case study.- Patterns of health, disease and behavior among wild ring-tailed lemurs, Lemur catta: Effects of habitat and sex.- Bald lemur syndrome and the miracle tree: Alopecia associated with Leucaena leucocephala at Berenty Reserve, Madagascar.- Temporal change in tooth size Among ring-tailed Lemurs (Lemur catta) at the Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve, Madagascar: Effects of an environmental fluctuation.

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Biography

Alison Jolly was the first scientist to study ringtailed lemurs in the wild, beginning in 1963. She continues her research on their troops in Berenty Reserve, working with many colleagues and students. Robert Sussman began the survey of ringtails throughout Wesern Madagascar in 1970, and in 1979 co-founded Beza Mahafaly Reserve of the School of Agronomy, University of Antananarivo. He has also continued research with generations of western and Malagasy students since then. Naoki Koyama heads the Kyoto University study group on ringtail behavior at Berenty, 1989 to the present. Hantanirina Rasamimanana of the Aecole Normale Superieur, University of Antananarivo, first worked at Berenty in 1983, and continues research there with the ENS students. In short, the four editors head all the major ringtail research groups, and have united with their colleagues and students to write this volume.