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It’s All in the Timing: Birth Seasonality and Infant Survival in Eulemur rubriventer

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Abstract

Highly seasonal breeding has been considered one of the keys to understanding Malagasy primate socioecology. Strict seasonal breeding may be particularly critical for Malagasy primates because they live in such energetically challenging seasonal environments. Lemurs also live in highly unpredictable environments, and there is growing evidence that reproductive timing may be mediated by additional factors, suggesting that more relaxed breeding seasonality is adaptive in some cases. I tested the adaptive breadth of the birth peak in Eulemur rubriventer, which breed in several different months. I describe reproduction in the species by determining the timing and extent of the birth season (period in which all births occur) and birth peak (period in which the majority of births occur); test whether relaxed reproductive seasonality might increase reproductive success by comparing infant mortality within and outside the birth peak; and model the extent to which fruit availability has an influence on the timing of reproduction. I collected birth data on 5 groups in 2003–2005, which I combined with demographic data that D. Overdorff collected from 5 focal groups and additional censused groups between 1988 and 1996. Thirty births occurred in 8 different months. Births were significantly seasonal, with a unimodal birth peak in late August/September/October, and a mean birth date of October 11. Twenty-three births (76.7%) occurred within 54 d (14.79%) of the year. No births occurred May–July, indicating that conceptions did not occur from late December through late February, and cycling (estimated using gestation length) did not occur until ca. 101 d after the austral summer solstice (December 21). Of 22 infants followed regularly, 18 were born in the birth peak, of which 2 died (11%). All 4 infants born out of season died. Based on fruit availability, I calculated a Theoretical Overlap index (T), which indicated a 3-mo window with optimal food conditions for reproduction. This window corresponded to the timing and breadth of the birth peak in Eulemur rubriventer. These results indicate that a breeding season >3 mo within a given year is not adaptive in the species, likely due in large part to the availability of fruit during key reproductive stages, particularly before breeding.

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Acknowledgments

I thank Madagascar National Parks (formerly Association Nationale pour la Gestion des Aires Protégées), the Ministére des Eaux et Foréts, and the Université de Madagascar for permission to conduct research in Madagascar; Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments (USA and Madagascar), Parc National de Ranomafana, and Centre ValBio staff for support; D. Waters, T. Calhoon, and A. Hall for help in the field; and Rakotonirina L., Telo A., Rasendrinirina V., Rakotonirina T. E., and Rakotoniaina J. F. for their dedication and expertise. I thank A. Baden, M. Blanco, C. Borries, D. Doran, S. King, A. Koenig, B. Patel, and P. Wright for helpful comments on the manuscript and analysis, J. Jernvall for insight and discussions on theoretical overlap indices, and D. Overdorff for generous access to unpublished data. I am very grateful for the thoughtful feedback offered by 2 anonymous reviewers and J. Setchell. This work was supported by The National Science Foundation (BCS-0424234), Primate Action Fund, PEO Foundation, American Association of University Women, American Society of Primatologists, Primate Conservation, Inc., and The University of Texas-Austin. Research complied with protocols approved by the UT-Austin Animal Care and Use Committee (no. 04032601), and adhered to Madagascar’s national laws.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    Stacey R. Tecot

  2. Interdepartmental Program in Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA

    Stacey R. Tecot

  3. Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA

    Stacey R. Tecot

  4. Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA

    Stacey R. Tecot

  5. Centre ValBio, Ranomafana, Madagascar

    Stacey R. Tecot

  6. Department of Anthropology, University of Texas, Austin, TX, 78712, USA

    Stacey R. Tecot

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  1. Stacey R. Tecot
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Correspondence to Stacey R. Tecot.

Electronic supplementary material

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Supplement Table 1.

Monthly Fecundity and Mortality in Eulemur rubriventer (PDF 69.2 KB)

Supplement Table 2.

Theoretical maximum (T) of fruit availability and reproduction (PDF 69.8 KB)

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Tecot, S.R. It’s All in the Timing: Birth Seasonality and Infant Survival in Eulemur rubriventer . Int J Primatol 31, 715–735 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-010-9423-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-010-9423-5

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