Live fast, die young: flexibility of life history traits in the fat-tailed dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus medius) |
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Authors: | Petra Lahann and Kathrin H Dausmann |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Animal Ecology and Conservation, Biozentrum Grindel, University Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King Platz 3, 20146 Hamburg, Germany;(2) Department of Nutritional Physiology, Leibniz-Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Wilhelm-Stahl-Allee 2, 18196 Dummerstorf, Germany |
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Abstract: | The fat-tailed dwarf lemur, Cheirogaleus medius, occurs in ecologically very different habitat types (rainforest and dry forest) across Madagascar. Its extraordinary biological
characteristics, such as monogamy and long-term hibernation, allow us to investigate behavioral, ecological, and physiological
flexibility of this species in populations across different ecological environments. This study aims to determine whether
different life history and physiological traits show variation in adaptation to the differing ambient conditions or are conservative
and influenced more by the organism's evolutionary history. We compared body masses, life history traits, social organization,
and hibernation duration of two populations of C. medius, one from a littoral rainforest and one from the dry deciduous forest. We revealed clear geographical differences in the
length of hibernation duration as well as, more surprisingly, in life history traits. We found that this species' reproductive
strategies seem to be highly flexible. Animals in the rainforest can spend more time in the active state due to a shorter
hibernation period, but have, in general, a shorter life expectancy due to higher mortality rates. Hence, they seem to maximize
their total reproductive output with higher reproductive rates (larger litter sizes, greater number of litters). Home ranges
and social organization, on the other hand, did not vary between habitats, suggesting that the general requirements of this
species are independent of environmental conditions. In conclusion, some life history traits, formerly assumed to be genetically
fixed parameters of primate species, prove in fact to be highly flexible. Different populations of the same species show distinct
adaptations according to the prevailing conditions in order to maximize individual reproductive output. |
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