Abstract
Alopecia (i.e. hair loss) in ring-tailed lemurs, or “bald lemur syndrome”, appeared in Berenty Reserve in the 1990s. The consumption of the leaves of Leucaena leucocephala, an introduced tree rich in toxic mimosine, has been linked to hair loss. Here, we show that individuals respond differently to the toxin, and bad fur condition is also influenced by other factors, particularly dietary diversity and social stress.
Resume
L’alopécie (i. e. perte de poils) chez Lemur catta, ou « syndrome des lémuriens chauves » est apparue dans la Réserve de Berenty au cours des années 1990. La consumation de feuilles de Leucaena leucocephala, un arbre qui contient une toxine appelée mimosine, conduit à une perte de poil. Ici nous montrons que les individus répondent différemment à cette toxine, la condition de la fourrure des animaux étant aussi influencée par d’autres facteurs tels que la diversité du régime et le stress social.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the de Heaulme family for permission to conduct research in Berenty Reserve, and A. Jolly and G. C. Crawford for providing background data on bald lemur syndrome and for supervising the research. For help and advice in the field we thank the Rakotomalala family and the Berenty Reserve staff and field researchers, especially W. Berg. We thank I. Porton and the Saint Louis Zoo staff who provided financial support for the study, and the Prosimians 2007 congress organizers, especially J. Masters and J. Ratsimbazafy.
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Andrianome, V.N., Rambeloarivony, H., Rasamimanana, H. (2012). Why Do Some Ring-Tailed Lemurs Feeding on Leucaena Not Suffer from Alopecia Syndrome?. In: Masters, J., Gamba, M., Génin, F. (eds) Leaping Ahead. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4511-1_41
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4511-1_41
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