Female Dominance and Ring-tailed lemurs

Some lemur species, such as the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), are characterized by female dominance, which is defined as the ability of females to consistently evoke submissive behavior from all males (Jolly, 1966; Richard, 1987; Kappeler, 1993). Female dominance can only occur in contexts of male submission (Hrdy, 1981). When males exhibit spontaneous male submission to females in the absence of female aggression, this is termed deference (Kappeler, 1993a). In the absence of male deferential behavior, females can elicit submissive male behavior through the use of aggression (Sauther, 1993).

Another animal that has shown female dominance is the spotted hyena (Kruuk, 1972; Frank, 1989; Smale et al., 1993). However, they do not exhibit true female dominance, as seen in lemurs, since female hyenas do not consistently dominate males in all contexts (Smale et al., 1993; Frank et al., 1989). Jolly (1966) found most dominance interactions that occur among lemurs occur in the context of feeding and often occur with the female supplanting the males. Female lemurs will have feeding priority after winning aggressive interactions with males who submissively vocalize and retreat (Jolly, 1966, 1967, 1984).

Wright (1999) argues that these characteristics likely occurred in order to conserve energy and maximize scare resources, and suggested three hypotheses to explain the evolution of female dominance in lemurs. The energy conservation hypothesis emphasizes the harsh island climate that selected for female dominance. The evolutionary disequilibrium hypothesis suggests that lemur traits are the result of a transition from nocturnal lifestyle to a more diurnal lifestyle. The energy frugality hypothesis predicts that certain lemur traits developed for maximization of food resources and thus to conserve energy (Wright, 1999). Wright (1999) suggested that the harsh and unpredictable island environment ofMadagascar led to the evolution of several behavioral characteristics, including female dominance, targeted female to female aggression, high female mortality rate, strict seasonal breeding and weaning synchrony.

Richard (1987) argued that females have a strong interest in maintaining their position of social dominance in order to maintain their priority access to food. Males will accept female dominance in order to further their reproductive interests through promoting the survival of their unborn young.  Hrdy (1981) argues that the females’ reproductive success is dependent on the ability to obtain resources, and thus that the social dominance of female lemurs and male deference to females is necessary in order to conserve energy for the brief and annual mating season. Jolly (1984) suggested that female dominance occurred due to seasonal stressors on the females.

Sauther (1993) in her study of ring-tailed lemurs in Beza Mahafaly, Madagascar found that her data supported female dominance as a response to the high reproductive costs experienced by female lemurs in the seasonal and harsh environment of Madagascar.  Sauther (1993) suggested that males are both direct and indirect feeding competitors of females, and that this competition often coincides with periods of high-cost reproductive states, including lactation during periods of low food availability.

 

Work Cited/ Read more 

Frank, L.G.; Glickman, S.E. & Zabel, C.J. (1989). Ontogeny of female dominance in the spotted hyena: Perspectives from nature and captivity. Symposia of the Zoological Society of London 61: 127-146.

Hrdy, S.B. (1981) The woman that never evolved. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

Jolly, A. (1966). Lemur behavior: a Madagascar field study. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Jolly, A. (1967). Breeding synchrony in wild Lemur catta. In Social communication among primates (S. A. Altmann, ed.) University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. pp. 3–14

Jolly, A. (1972). Troop continuity and troop spacing in Propithecus verreauxi and Lemur catta at Berenty (Madagascar). Folia Primatologica 17:335–362.

Jolly, A. (1984). The puzzle of female feeding priority. In Female primates: studies by women primatologists (M. Small, ed.) Alan R. Liss, New York. pp 197–215

Kappeler, P.M. (1993). Female dominance in primates and other mammals. In: Perspectives in Ethology, Volume 10: Behavior and Evolution. Bateson, P.P.G.; Klopfer, P.H. & Thompson, N.S. (eds.), Plenum Press, New York, pp. 143-157.

Richard, A.F. (1987) Malagasy prosimians: female dominance. In Smuts, B.B., Cheney, D. L., Seyfarth, R. M., Wrangham, R. W., and Struhsaker, T.T. (eds,), Primate societies. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.

Sauther, M.L. (1993). Resource competition in wild populations of ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta): implications for female dominance. In Lemur Social Systems and Their Ecological Basis. P.M. Kappeler and J.U. Ganzhorn, eds. Plenum Press, New York

Smale, L., Frank, L.G. & Holekamp, K.E. (1993). Ontogeny of dominance in free-living spotted hyenas: Juvenile rank relations with adult females and immigrant males. Animal Behaviour 46: 467-477.

Wright, P. (1999). Lemur traits and Madagascar ecology: Coping with an island environment. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 110(2), 31-72.