Behavioral Ecology of ringtailed, ruffed and black lemurs

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Behavioral Ecology of ring-tailed, ruffed and
black lemurs

• By
• Brian Clements
• Marsha Gilkey
• Melanie Shockley

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Lets Take a Trip Down Lemur Lane

• Disclaimer All observed behaviors in captivity
  were recorded between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

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Number, Species and Sexes of the Lemurs We
Observed

• Black Lemurs- 2 1-female 1-male
• Ring-tailed Lemurs- 3-males
• Ruffed Lemurs- 3-males

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General Characteristics of Ring-tailed, Ruffed,
and Black Lemurs

• All 32 species of lemurs reside on the
  Island of Madagascar
• Prosimians(Old World Monkeys)
• Tails are not prehensile( cannot hang from them)
• Vegetarian Diet of leaves and fruit
• All are endangered species

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Ruffed Lemurs

• Genus-Varecia Species-variegata
• Size- 115 cm Weight- 3.5-4.5 kg
• Lifespan- 15-20 years
• Habitat-high canopy of the Madagascar coastal
  rainforest

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Black Lemurs

• Genus- Eulemur Species-macaco
• Size- 96 cm Weight- 2.4 kg
• Lifespan- 20-25 years
• Habitat-Northwestern corner of Madagascar in
  undisturbed tropical rain forests

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Ring-Tailed Lemurs

• Genus- Lemur Species- catta
• Size- 102.5 cm Weight- 3-3.5 kg
• Lifespan- 20-25 years
• Habitat- Arid open areas and forests in
  Madagascar (as much as 40 of time on the ground)

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Unique Behaviors of Ruffed Lemurs in Captivity

• Very Vocal-easily startled by sudden movement
  and noises (airplanes, engines, people)
• More solitary than other lemurs
• More aggressive towards others when searching for
  food

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Ordinary Observed Activities of a Ruffed Lemur in
Captivity

• Amount of time spent each day on 5 most common
  activities

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Unique Behaviors of Ruffed Lemurs in the Wild

• Live in Small groups of two to five
• Females are dominant to males
• As many as 12 different alarm calls to alert
  group members to danger from predators
• Groups are aggressive towards other groups at the
  borders of their territories
• Only Lemurs to produce litters

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Unique Behaviors of Black Lemurs in Captivity

• Spent a lot of the day on the ground
• Not very social with the other species or with
  each other
• More stagnant than the others
• Male was allowed very little contact with the
  others, while the female was allowed contact with
  the Ring-tailed

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Ordinary Observed Activities of Black Lemurs in
Captivity

• Amount of time spent each day on 5 most common
  activities

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Unique Behaviors of Black Lemurs in the Wild

• Infant clings to mothers belly for the first
  three weeks of life
• Live in social groups of 7-10
• Females are dominant
• Groups maintain separate homes in the day, but
  several groups congregate at night

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Unique Behaviors of Ring-tailed Lemurs in
Captivity

• Very social
• Huddled together in one pile while sleeping
• Remained in areas of low elevation and in the
  grasses
• Sun-bathed more than the other species

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Ordinary Observed Activities of Ring-Tailed
Lemurs in Captivity

• Amount of time spent each day on the 5 most
  common activities

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Unique Behaviors of Ring-tailed Lemurs in the Wild

• Twins are frequent
• Infants Cling to their mothers belly or ride
  jockey style for the first three weeks
• Social groups of 3-25 with females being dominant
• Groups are aggressive toward each other at the
  borders of territories

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Comparison of Observed Activity of all Lemurs in
Captivity

• Amount of time spent each day on the 5 most
  common activities

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Effects of Temperature on Lemur Behavior

• We observed lemur behavior at temperatures
  ranging from 35F to 85F
• They were very active at temperatures between
  60F to 80F
• The lemurs began to get sluggish at temperatures
  above 80F and below 50F

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Effects of the Time of Day on Activity Levels of
Lemurs

• We observed that activity levels were highest in
  the morning hours.
• During the afternoon, especially on hot days,
  their activity was very sluggish.
• In the wild, they have peak activity in the early
  morning and late afternoon
• In the wild, upon nightfall, they retire to their
  sleeping trees until morning when activity is
  resumed

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Behavior of the Single Female Black Lemur

• Oddly enough she did not want to have anything to
  do with the other male black lemur. She often
  showed aggression toward him, maybe to show her
  dominance
• Spent most of her time by herself or sleeping
  near the ring-tailed lemur males

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Conclusion of Observing Captive Lemur Behavior

• We were able to understand some of the basic
  behaviors of lemurs
• In the zoo there are no predators, food
  shortages, and very little disease
• These factors make Lemur behavior very different
  in the zoo form behaviors in the wild

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Conclusion Continued

• We also did not see a natural male to female
  ratio as would be present in the wild. This
  changes behavior a great deal
• We were able to see how things like weather and
  time of day affected lemur activity
• Still through research of wild behaviors and our
  observations it is possible to get an idea of
  lemur behaviors

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