Ring-tailed lemur

Fig. 7.9(a) Discrimination of labial secretions by female Ring-tailed lemurs differential VN-related responses (licks, c.f. 6,c/5 min) to own, WA vs. strange-female, scent (from Dugmore, 1984). 

Bailey K. (1978). Flehmen in the Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta). Behaviour 65, 309-319. 

Evans C.S. and Goy R.W. (1968). Social behaviour and reproductive cycles in captive Ring-tailed lemurs, Lemur catta. J Zool 156, 171-197. 

Dugmore, S.J., Bailey, K. and Evans, C.S. (1984) Discrimination by male ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) between the scent marks of male and those of female conspecificis. Int. J. Primatol. 5, 235-245. 

McCusker, C. and Smith, T.E. (2002) The potential of biologically relevant odour cues to function as a novel form of enrichment in captive ring-tailed lemurs, Lemur catta. British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums Federation Research Newsletter 3, 3. 

Lemurs have flat nails instead of claws on both hands and feet. Most have 36 teeth, though the indrids have 30 and the ring-tailed lemur has 32. Mary lemurs exhibit profound differences in weight and activity from one season to the next. For example, the male s scrotum. 

Two ring-tailed lemurs grooming eachother. Photograph by Tom McHugh. The National Audubon Socie Cottection/Photo Researchers, Inc Reproduced by permission. 

A ring-tailed lemur sits in a tree at the Lowry Park Zoo in Rorida. Mark Philips, Photo Researcfwrs, Inc. Reproduced with permission... 

The present study is a preliminary attempt to begin to counter this deficit. It concentrates on two species of lemur, the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) and Coquerel s sifaka (Propithecus verrauxi coquereli). Both of these species are classified in the lUCN Red List of Threatened Species as Vulnerable (L catta - VU Ale, P. v. coquereli - VU A2cd). 

The ring-tailed lemur is probably the best studied species of prosimian, and much has been published on scent-marking behaviour in this species, especially with respect to the anogenital gland. Little is known about the olfactory behavior of P. v. coquereli (Brockman and Whitten, 1996),... 

Montagna, W., and Soonyun, J., 1962, Skin of Primates 10. Skin of ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta). Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 20 95. 

Oda, R., 1999, Scent marking and contact call production in ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta). Folia Primatol. 70 121-124. 

Ramsay, N. F., and Giller, P. S., 1996, Scent-marking in ring-tailed lemurs responses to the introduction of "foreign scent in the home range. Primates 37 13-23. 

In addition, instantaneous samples (Altmann, 1974) of the activity and height in tree of the focal animal were collected every 15 minutes for the sifaka and every 3 minutes for the more active ring-tailed lemurs. Height levels were as follows Level 1 was the ground level Level 2 was the shrub layer, 1-3 m off the ground Level 3 included small trees. 

The preferred size of object marked by the ring-tailed lemurs was a slender vertical branch or very young sapling. Of the 132 marks for which size of branch was recorded, the average diameter was 3.2 cm (median 3 cm, range. 5 cm to 20 cm). Of the 315 marks for which angle... 

The ring-tailed lemurs and the sifaka both demarcated territioral borders, the battle zones, even though their tolerance for intergroup home range boundary overlap was entirely different. The lemur pattern of marking was very difficult to observe directly in the field because of the complexity of home range overlap. There were no physical discontinuities at these borders that were obvious to people. 

Flehmen in the ring-tailed lemur (L. catta), Behav.,... 

Mertl-Millhollen, A. S., 1984, Olfactory demarcation of territorial but not home range boundaries by ring-tailed lemurs, Amer. Zool., 24 103A. 

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