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SEPG 2359 - Date Awarded 2004
The costs and benefits of communal breeding in a solitary foraging primate: the grey mouse lemur, Microcebus murinus
Dr. Jason Gilchrist
Abstract
This research aims to determine the selective factors promoting cooperative breeding in the only known communal breeding primate, the grey mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus). This species is a solitary forager but individuals form communal sleeping groups and females are also known to crèche young. The grey mouse lemur is facultatively cooperative, with some females rearing their offspring alone, whilst other females rear their offspring in a communal nest with up to three other females. Why do some females rear offspring alone whilst others rear young communally? This research aims to evaluate the costs and benefits of communal rearing by quantifying care donated by females and received by pups in nests of singular and communal females. Contribution to rearing of young was evaluated via video recording within nestboxes occupied by three communal groups (two pairs and one group of three). Females and pups were marked for individual identification on video footage. In each group there were 24-hour periods where a female remained alone with her own offspring. It is therefore possible to compare amount of care donated and received both within communal groups (comparing lone females with grouped females) and between groups (comparing the two pairs with the three-female group). There was no difference in reproductive success between the three groups observed. All three groups had five young on first observation. Mortality of young occurred in each group: one pair losing a single pup, one pair losing two pups, and the three-female group losing two pups by the end of observations. Analysis of video footage is ongoing.
Full report: SEPG_report_2359.doc
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