Abstract
The spiny forest of South Madagascar is one of the driest and most unpredictable habitats in Africa. The small-bodied, nocturnal primate Lepilemur leucopus lives in this harsh habitat with high diurnal and seasonal changes in ambient temperature. In this study, we investigated seasonal adaptions in energy budgeting of L. leucopus, which allow it to live under these conditions by measuring resting metabolic rate using open-flow respirometry. No signs of heterothermy were detected, and resting metabolic rate was significantly lower in the warmer wet season than in the colder dry season. In fact, L. leucopus possesses one of the lowest mass-specific metabolic rates measured so far for an endotherm, probably the result of adaptations to its habitat and folivorous and potentially toxic diet. Surprisingly, we identified a shift of the thermoneutral zone from between 25 and 30 °C in the wet season to between 29 and 32 °C in the cool dry season. L. leucopus seems to be more affected by the hot daytime temperatures during the dry season and thermoregulation seems to be more costly during this time, which makes this shift of the thermoneutral zone advantageous. Our findings suggest that L. leucopus has a very small scope to unfavorable conditions, making it highly vulnerable, e.g., to changing conditions due to climate change.
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Acknowledgements
This study was carried out under the “Accord de Collaboration” between Madagascar National Parks (MNP), the University of Antananarivo, and the University of Hamburg, and all procedures comply with the current laws of Madagascar. We thank MNP, R.S.G. Andriatahinjanahary, R.G.H. Razafindrakoto, J.U. Ganzhorn, J. Glos, J. Turner, J. Rakotomala, and D. Rakotondravony for their collaboration and support, Randrianasolo Mampionondrainy from Berenty for his help with the animal capturing, and Ms Claire Foulon and Mr Jean de Heaulme for providing authorization and facilities to study lemur physiology at Berenty Private Reserve. Also thanks to our volunteers Trinidad Zegers, Alice Nagy, and Hannah Wigley. We acknowledge the authorization and support of this study by the Ministère de l’Environnement des Forêts, MNP and the University of Antananarivo. The study was financed by the DFG (Ga 342/14) and the University Hamburg. This research involved non-human primates and has been approved by the Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee of the Australian National University (permit number A2013/42). All animal captures were conducted under anesthesia and were monitored so that the animals would not suffer, be harmed, or recall the capture process. The research was approved by the Directeur de la Conservation de la Biodiversité et du Système des Aires Protégées, Ministère de l’Environnement, Antananarivo (Autorisation de recherche no 310/13/MEF/SG/DGF/DCB.SAP/SCB, Direction Générale Forêts).
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Communicated by F. Breukelen.
This manuscript is part of the special issue Hibernation—Guest Editors: Frank van Breukelen and Jenifer C. Utz.
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Bethge, J., Wist, B., Stalenberg, E. et al. Seasonal adaptations in energy budgeting in the primate Lepilemur leucopus . J Comp Physiol B 187, 827–834 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-017-1082-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-017-1082-9