Behavioral responses to tooth loss in wild ring‐tailed lemurs ( Lemur catta ) at the Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve, Madagascar

Bibliographic Data

ID8313985
AuthorsJames B Millette (University of Colorado Boulder, corresponding author), M L Sauther (0000-0003-4747-4417, University of Colorado Boulder), Frank P Cuozzo (0000-0002-8870-5173, University of North Dakota)
Year2009
Volume140
Issue1
Pages120-134
Publication date2009-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.21045
PMID19373842
OpenAlexW2009446298
LanguageEN
Citations received23
References cited73

Severe dental wear and tooth loss is often assumed to impede the processing, breakdown, and energetic conversion of food items, thereby negatively impacting individual health, reproduction, and survival. Ring‐tailed lemurs at the Beza Mahafaly Special Reserve demonstrate exceptionally high frequencies of severe dental wear and antemortem tooth loss, yet often survive multiple years with these impairments. To test the hypothesis that these lemurs mitigate tooth loss through behavioral adjustments, we collected 191 h of observational data from 16 focal subjects, eight without tooth loss and eight with between 3% and 44% loss. These data indicate dentally‐impaired ring‐tailed lemurs show compensatory behaviors consistent with the demands of living in a social group. During early afternoon (12:00–14:30 h) individuals with loss showed trends towards higher frequencies of foraging and grooming, while individuals without loss rested significantly more often. Individuals with >10% loss ( n = 7) showed higher frequencies of feeding, foraging, and grooming, and lower frequencies of resting during this period than individuals with n = 9). Individuals with tooth loss maintained relatively higher levels of feeding and foraging throughout the day. These individuals licked tamarind fruit at higher frequencies, likely spending more time softening it before ingestion. These individuals did not demonstrate longer feeding bouts overall, although bouts involving tamarinds were significantly longer. Individuals with marked toothcomb wear engaged in higher rates of certain types of allogrooming, demonstrating that social behaviors are used to compensate for reduced grooming efficiency. These data have implications for interpreting behavioral responses to dental impairment in the fossil record. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc

Biology · Foraging · Lemur · Lemur catta · Obesity · Oral health · Primate · Social grooming · Tooth loss · Weight loss · Zoology · Amphibian and Reptile Biology · Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior · Demography · Dentistry · Ecology · Endocrinology · Medicine · Primate Behavior and Ecology

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