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Variability in adult group compositions of a prosimian primate

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Abstract

Many species fall into specific mating-system categories, and that category is usually associated with a suite of behavioral and morphological characteristics. Several lemur species, including Propithecus diadema edwardsi, have been labeled "idiosyncratic" because variation in socionomic sex ratios among groups is consistent with wide variation in social structure. We used several hypotheses founded in behavioral ecology to assess variability in P. d. edwardsi. First we examined 46 group-mating seasons to quantify variability. We then tested predictions that the number of males per group would increase as the number of adult females increased, and the number of males would increase as female mating synchrony increased. Examining variation in offspring survival relative to the number of adult males in a group may tell us which composition is likely to persist into the future, so we also hypothesized that as the number of males in a group increased, fertility and offspring survival would increase. We found an equal distribution of polygynous, polygynandrous, pairs, and polyandrous groups. Furthermore, female distribution and mating synchrony did not predict the number of males, and offspring survival was not correlated with the number of males. Since infants survived equally well in groups of all compositions, sifakas experienced no pressure to maintain a particular number of adult males per adult female. The small number of adults per group (mean=3.2) may result from balancing feeding competition against predator detection. Augmenting the mate pool available from the group with mates from neighboring groups may promote the notable variability seen in the adult group compositions of sifakas.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge support and assistance from ANGAP, Université d'Antananarivo, Université de Fianarantsoa, ONE, DEF, MICET, and Madagascar's Ministre de la Environnement. We thank SUNY Stony Brook Research Foundation and ICTE for their support. Special thanks to ICTE RNP research assistants Georges Rakotonirina, Raymond Ratsimbazafy, and Rémi Rakotosoa. The Wenner Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, the John D. and Catharine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg Foundation, the USAID UDLP program, the Earthwatch Institute, and the Douroucouli Foundation are thanked for their assistance with funding. We thank Carola Borries, Jukka Jernvall, and W. Troy Tucker for their helpful comments on this manuscript. We also thank two excellent anonymous reviewers and David Watts who helped improve the quality of this paper.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA

    Sharon T. Pochron & Patricia C. Wright

  2. ICTE, Stony Brook, New York, USA

    Patricia C. Wright

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  1. Sharon T. Pochron
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Pochron, S.T., Wright, P.C. Variability in adult group compositions of a prosimian primate. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 54, 285–293 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-003-0634-z

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