Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Creatures of the Dark pp 45–60Cite as

Predation, Pollination and Torpor in Two Nocturnal Prosimians: Cheirogaleus Major and Microcebus Rufus in the Rain Forest of Madagascar

  • Chapter

Abstract

Cheirogaleus is the only known genus of primate with extended periods of torpor (Petter, 1978). Previous field studies of the two smallest rain forest species of nocturnal primates, Cheirogaleus major, the greater dwarf lemur and Microcebus rufus, the rufous mouse lemur, were based on anecdotal observations (Petter et al., 1977) or short-term studies (Harcourt, 1987; Martin, 1972; Hladik, 1979; Ganzhorn, 1989). Both species eat fruit, flowers, and insects, are seasonal breeders, have two to three offspring and protect their offspring in leaf nests (Petter et al., 1977). These data do not in themselves explain why in sympatric species, one species has an extended inactive period, but the other does not. A goal of this study was to shed light on some of the factors which might have contributed to the evolution of this behavior.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Bearder, S.K. (1987). Lorises, bushbabies, and tarsiers: Diverse societies in solitary foragers. In B. B. Smuts, D. L. Cheney, R. M. Seyfarth, R.E. Wrangham, & T.T. Struhsaker (Eds.), Primate Societies, Chicago and London: The Oxford University Press, pp. 11–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bearder, S.K., & Martin, R. D. (1980). The social organization of a nocturnal primate revealed by radiotracking. In C.J. Amlaner Jr., & D. W. Macdonald (Eds.), A Handbook On Biotelemetry and Radio Tracking, (pp. 633–648) Oxford: Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charles-Dominique, P. (1977). Ecology and Behavior of Nocturnal Primates, New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charles-Dominique, P. (1983). Ecology and social adaptations in didelphid marsupials: comparison with eutherians of similar ecology. In J. F. Eisenberg, & D. G. Kleiman (Eds.), Advances in the Study of Mammalian Behavior (pp. 395–442). Lawrence, Kansas: American Society of Mammalogists.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charles-Dominique, P., Atramentowicz, M., Charles-Dominique, M., Gerard, H., Hladik, C. M., & Prevost, M. F. (1991). Les mamiferes frugivores arboricoles nocturnes d’une foret Guyanaise: interrelations plantes-animaux. Revue d’ecologie (La terre et la vie) 35: 341–435.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, J. F. (1981). The Mammalian Radiations. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenberg, J. F., & Gould, E. (1970). The tenrecs; a study in mammalian behavior and evolution. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 27:v-138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emmons, L. (1990). Neotropical Rainforest Mammals A Field Guide, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garber, P. (1984). Proposed nutritional importance of plant exudates in the diet of the Panamanian tamarin (Saguinus oedipus goeffreyi), International Journal of Primatology 1:185–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ganzhorn, J.U. (1989). Niche separation of seven lemur species in the eastern rainforest of Madagascar. Oecologia 79:279–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gautier-Hion, A. (1980). Seasonal variations of diet related to species and sex in a community of Cercopithecus monkeys. Journal of Animal Ecology 49: 237–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldizen, A. W., Terborgh, J., Cornejo, D. T., Porras, D. T., & Evans, R. (1988). Seasonal food shortage, weight loss, and the timing of births in saddle-back tamarins (Saguinus fuscicollis). Journal ofAnimal Ecology 57:893–901.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, S. M., Creighton, G. K., & Raxworthy, C. (1991). The food habits of the Madagascar long-eared owl (Asio madagascariensis) in south eastern Madagascar. Bonn. Cool. Beitr. pp.21–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, S. M., O’Connor, S., & Langrand, O. (1993). A review of predation on lemurs: implications for the evolution of social behavior in small, nocturnal primates. In P. M. Kappeler, & J. Ganzhorn (Eds.), Lemur Social Systems and Their Ecological Basis, (pp. 51–66). New York: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt, C. S. (1987). Brief trap/retrap study of the brown mouse-lemur (Microcebus rufus). Folia Primatologia49: 209–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hladik, C. M. (1979). Diet and ecology of prosimians. In G. A. Doyle & R. D. Martin (Eds.), The Study of Prosimian Behavior (pp. 307–357). New York: New York Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hladik, C. M., Charles-Dominique, P., & Petter, J. (1980). Feeding strategies of five nocturnal prosimians in the dry forest of the west coast of Madagascar. In P. Charles-Dominique, H. M. Cooper, A., Hladik, C. M. Hladik, E. Pages, G. F. Pariente, A. Petter-Rousseaux, & A. Schilling (Eds.), Nocturnal Malagasy Primates, (pp. 41–73). New York: New York Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janson, C. H. (1984). Female choice and mating system of the brown capuchin monkey Cebus apella (Primates: Cebidae). Zeitschrift fur Tierpsychologie 65:177–200.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janson, C. H. (1988). Food competition in brown capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella): Quantitative effects of group size and tree productivity. Behaviour 105:53–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janson, C. H., Terborgh, J. W., & Emmons, L.H. (1981). Non-flying mammals as pollinating agents in the Amazonian rainforest. Reproductive Botany Biotropica 14: 1–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langrand, O. (1990). A Field Guide to the Birds of Madagascar, New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, R. D. (1972). A preliminary field study of the lesser mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus J. F. Miller 1777). Zeitschrift fur Tierpsychologie, Supplement 9: 43–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • McNab, B. K. (1983). Food habits, energetics, and population biology in small mammals. American Naturalist 116:106–124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyers, D. M., & Wright, P. C. (1993). Resource tracking: food availibility and Propithecus seasonal reproduction. In J. U. Ganzhorn & P. K. Kappeler (Eds.), Lemur Social Systems and Their Ecological Basis. (pp. 179–192). New York, Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morland, H. S. (1990). Parental behavior and infant development in ruffed lemurs (Varecia variegata) in a northeast Madagascar rain forest. American Journal of Primatology. 20: 253–265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Overdorff, D. J. (1991). Ecological Correlates To Social Structure In Two Prosimian Primates In Madagascar: Eulemurfulvus rufus and Eulemur rubriventer Ph.D. Duke University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Overdorff, D. J. (1992). Differential patterns in flower feeding by Eulemur fulvus rufus and Eulemur rubriventer in Madagascar. American Journal of Primatology 28: 191–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petter, J.-J., Albignac, R., & Rumpler, Y. (1977). Mammiferes lemuriens (Primates prosimiens). Faune de Madagascar No. 44. ORSTOM-CNRS, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petter, J.-J. (1978). Ecological and physiological adaptations of five sympatric nocturnal lemurs to seasonal variations in food production. In D. J. Chivers & J. Herbert (Eds.), Recent Advances in Primatology Vol. 1. (pp. 211–23). London, Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, J. (1974). Body temperature fluctuations in Cheirogaleus medius. In R. D. Martin, G. A. Doyle & A. C. Walker (Eds.), Prosimian Biology (pp.), London: Duckworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, J. M., Creighton G. K. & Emmons L. H. (1993). Activity patterns of two species of Nesomys (Muridae: Nesomyinae) in a Madagascar rain forest, Journal of Tropical Ecology 9:101–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sauther, M. L. (1989). Antipredator behavior in troops of free-ranging Lemur catta at Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve Madagascar. International Journal of Primatology 10:595–606.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt-Neilson, (1983). Animal Physiology. Adaptation and Environment (ed 3). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sussman, R. W. (1991). Primate origins and the evolution of angiosperms. In American Journal of Primatology 23: 209–223.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sussman, R. W., & Kinzey W. G. (1984). The ecological role of the Callitrichidae: a review. American Journal of Physcial Anthropology 64:419–49.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sussman, R. W., & Raven, P.H. (1978). Pollination by lemurs and marsupials: an archaic coevolutionary system. Science 200: 731–736.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sussman, R. W., & Tattersall, I. (1976). Cycles of activity, group composition, and diet of Lemur mongoz mongoz Linnaeus, 1876 in Madagascar. Folia Primatologica 26:270–283.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tattersall, I. (1982). The Primates of Madagascar. Columbia Univ. Press, New York, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Terborgh, J. (1983). Five New World Primates: A Study in Comparative Ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Terborgh, J. (1986). Keystone plant resources in the tropical rain forest. In M. Soule (Ed.), Conservation Biology: The Science of Scarcity and Diversity (pp.330–344), Sunderland Massachusetts, Sinauer Associates, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Terborgh, J., & Stern, M. (1987). The surreptitious life of the saddle backed tamarin. American Scientist 75:260–2.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, F. J., (1991). Social organization, feeding ecology and reproductive strategy of ruffed lemurs, Varecia variegata. In A. Ehara, T. Kimura, O. Takenaka, M. Iwamoto (Eds.) Primatology Today: Proceedings of the XIII Congress of the International Primatological Society, Nagoya Kyoto, (pp. 81–84). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, F. J., Overdorff, D. J., Balko, E. A., & Wright, P. C. (in press). Distribution of Varecia variegata in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar. International Journal of Primatology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, P. C. (1985). Costs and benefits of nocturnality to the night monkey (Aotus). Ph.D. thesis, City University of New York, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, P. C. (1986b). Ecological correlates of monogamy in Aotus and Callicebus. In J. G. Else & P. C. Lee (Eds.) Primate Ecology and Conservation (pp. 159–167), New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, P. C. (1989). The nocturnal monkey niche in the New World. Journal of Human Evolution 18:635–658.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, P.C. (1992). Primate ecology, rain forest conservation and economic development: building a national park in Madagascar. Evolutionary Anthropology 1: 25–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, P.C. (1994). Night watch on the Amazon. Natural History 103 (5): 44–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, P.C. (in press). Behavioral and ecological comparisons of Neotropical and Malagasy primates. In W. G. Kinzey (Ed.), New World Primates: Ecology Evolution and Behavior, New York, SUNY Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, SUNY at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-4364, USA

    Patricia C. Wright

  2. Doctoral Program in Anthropological Sciences, SUNY at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY, 11794-4364, USA

    Louise B. Martin

Authors
  1. Patricia C. Wright
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Louise B. Martin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Clark College, Dubuque, Iowa, USA

    L. Alterman

  2. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Gerald A. Doyle

  3. Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA

    M. Kay Izard

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Wright, P.C., Martin, L.B. (1995). Predation, Pollination and Torpor in Two Nocturnal Prosimians: Cheirogaleus Major and Microcebus Rufus in the Rain Forest of Madagascar. In: Alterman, L., Doyle, G.A., Izard, M.K. (eds) Creatures of the Dark. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-2405-9_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-2405-9_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-3250-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-2405-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation