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Body mass of wild ring-tailed lemurs in Berenty Reserve, Madagascar, with reference to tick infestation: a preliminary analysis

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Abstract

In 1999, we measured the body mass of 101 wild ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) inhabiting the Berenty Reserve, Madagascar. In addition, we counted the number of ticks [Haemaphysalis (Rhipistoma) lemuris Hoogstraal, 1953] infesting their facial skin and external auditory meatuses. For both males and females, the body mass appeared to increase until the age of 3 years. With the apparent exception of infants, there were no sexual differences in body mass. Within a group, higher-ranked adult males tended to be heavier than lower-ranked males. In contrast, there was no consistent correlation between the body mass of females and their ranks. Among the study groups, there was a small difference in body mass and significant difference in the number of ticks infesting the facial skin and external auditory meatuses. In particular, lemurs of a group who inhabited an area of gallery forest in the study area exhibited the smallest values of body mass and were severely infested with ticks. Such group variations were not consistently correlated with the reproductive parameters of the study groups. In three groups moderately infested with ticks, ticks infested adult males and subadults more heavily than adult females, juveniles, and infants.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the late A. Randrianjafy, former Director of the Botanical and Zoological Park of Tsimbazaza; A Jolly for kind help and useful comments; A.H. Harcourt, R.W. Sussman, and two anonymous referees, for valuable and kind comments; Drs. S. Kitaoka and H. Suzuki for identification of the tick species; and Y. Hamada for his valuable comments. We are also grateful to the Government of the Republic of Madagascar and Mr. J. De Heaulme for allowing us to carry out our field research at the Berenty Reserve. This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific research to N. Koyama (#09041158) from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Center for African Area Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Naoki Koyama

  2. Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Mitsuru Aimi, Yoshi Kawamoto & Hirohisa Hirai

  3. The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Hayama, Japan

    Yasuhiro Go

  4. Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Shinichiro Ichino

  5. School of Policy Studies, Kwansei Gakuin University, 2-1 Gakuen, Sanda, 669-1337, Japan

    Yukio Takahata

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  1. Naoki Koyama
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  2. Mitsuru Aimi
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  3. Yoshi Kawamoto
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  4. Hirohisa Hirai
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  5. Yasuhiro Go
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  6. Shinichiro Ichino
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  7. Yukio Takahata
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Correspondence to Yukio Takahata.

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Koyama, N., Aimi, M., Kawamoto, Y. et al. Body mass of wild ring-tailed lemurs in Berenty Reserve, Madagascar, with reference to tick infestation: a preliminary analysis. Primates 49, 9–15 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-007-0051-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-007-0051-4

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