The Study of Prosimian Behavior

698 Pages·1979·13.748 MB·English

by  G.A. Doyle (Eds.)

Contributors
S. Κ. Bearder Georges Pariente
Κ. J. Boskoff Jean-Jacques Petter
P. Charles-Dominique Ariette Petter-Rousseaux
G. A. Doyle J. I. Pollock
G. Gray Eaton Duane M. Rumbaugh
C. M. Hladik A. Schilling
P. H. Klopfer Richard N. Van Horn
Robert D. Martin Alan Walker
Carsten Niemitz Beverly J. Wilkerson
The Study of
Prosimian Behavior
Edited by
G. A. Doyle
Primate Behaviour Research Group
University of the Witwatersrand
Johannesburg, South Africa
R. D. Martin
Department of Anthropology
University College London
London, England
ACADEMIC PRESS New York San Francisco London 1979
A Subsidiary of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers
COPYRIGHT © 1979, BY ACADEMIC PRESS, INC.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
NO PART OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED OR
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PERMISSION IN WRITING FROM THE PUBLISHER.
ACADEMIC PRESS, INC.
Ill Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10003
United Kingdom Edition published by
ACADEMIC PRESS, INC. (LONDON) LTD.
24/28 Oval Road, London NW1 7DX
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
The Study of prosimian behavior.
Includes bibliographies.
1. Primates—Behavior. 2. Mammals—Behavior.
I. Doyle, Gerald Α. II. Martin, Robert D.
III. Title: Prosimian behavior.
QL737.P9S77 599\81'05 78-9417
ISBN 0-12-222150-8
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
79 80 81 82 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the memory of
GEORGES PARIENTE
who died tragically shortly
after his own contribution had
been completed,
with the affection and respect
of all the contributors to this
volume
List of Contributors
Numbers in parentheses indicate the pages on which the authors' contributions begin.
S. K. BEARDER (567), Primate Behaviour Research Group, University of the
1
Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2001, South Africa
K. J. BOSKOFF (123), Department of Zoology, Duke University, Durham, North
2
Carolina 27706
P. CHARLES-DOMINIQUE (247, 567), Equipe de Recherche sur les Prosimiens,
Laboratoire d'Écologie Générale, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Brunoy
91800, France
G. A. DOYLE (157), Primate Behaviour Research Group, University of the
Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2001, South Africa
G. GRAY EATON (79), Oregon Regional Primate Research Center, Beaverton,
Oregon 97005
C. M. HLADIK (307), Equipe de Recherche sur les Prosimiens, Laboratoire
d'Écologie Générale, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Brunoy 91800,
France
P. H. KLOPFER (123), Department of Zoology, Duke University, Durham, North
Carolina 27706
ROBERT D. MARTIN (45), Wellcome Institute of Comparative Physiology, The
3
Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, England
CARSTEN NIEMITZ (631), Anatomisches Institut, Fachbereich Medizin,
Georg-August Universität, Göttingen, West Germany
GEORGES PARIENTE (411), Laboratoire d'Écologie Générale, Muséum National
4
d'Histoire Naturelle, Brunoy 91800, France
JEAN-JACQUES PETTER (1, 247), Equipe de Recherche sur les Prosimiens,
Laboratoire d'Écologie Générale, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Brunoy
91800, France
ARLETTE PETTER-ROUSSEAUX (1), Equipe de Recherche sur les Prosimiens,
'Present address: Wellcome Institute of Comparative Physiology, The Zoological Society of London,
Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, England.
2Present address: Zoological Society of San Diego, San Diego, California.
3Present address: Department of Anthropology, University College London, London WC1, England.
4Deceased.
xiii
xiv List of Contributors
Laboratoire d'Écologie Générale, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Brunoy
91800, France
J. I. POLLOCK5 (359), Department of Anthropology, University College London,
London WC1, England
DUANE M. RUMBAUGH (207), Department of Psychology, Georgia State
University, Atlanta, Georgia 30303
A. SCHILLING (461), Equipe de Recherche sur les Prosimiens, Laboratoire
d'Écologie Générale, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Brunoy 91800,
France
RICHARD N. VAN HORN (79), Oregon Regional Primate Research Center,
Beaverton, Oregon 97005
ALAN WALKER (543), Department of Anatomy, Harvard Medical School, Boston,
Massachusetts 02115
BEVERLY J. WILKERSON (207), Department of Psychology, Georgia State
University, Atlanta, Georgia 30303
5Present address: Department of Physiology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England.
Preface
"The Study of Prosimian Behavior" was first conceived in 1970 while the first
editor was on a tour of the United States under the auspices of the Carnegie
Corporation, and in response to many suggestions to write a book on this subject.
Prosimians had only recently come into their own as objects of study because of
the potential that such studies offered in understanding the course of primate
evolution.
At the same time the second editor was thinking about an international seminar on
prosimians to bring together all those studying these animals—to present and
discuss their work with peers in a variety of disciplines. This idea was given
precedence. A highly successful international seminar took place in London in
1972 ("Prosimian Biology," Martin et al., 1974). It was only the third work to
1
have appeared recently devoted exclusively to the prosimian primates. Sub-
sequent to "Prosimian Biology," Tattersall and Sussman (1975) produced a
2
valuable edited volume of contributed chapters constituting "a progress report on
our knowledge of the lemurs." Charles-Dominique's (1977) superb monograph,
3
based on years of field work on five sympatric lorisid species in Central West
Africa, together with Chapter 13 in this volume, destroy the myth that the lorisids
of Africa and Asia "do not show the richness and variety of adaptation" charac-
teristic of the Malagasy forms (Tattersall and Sussman, 1975). The Malagasy
forms are of particular interest because in Madagascar they have not been subject
to the constraints provided by competition with higher primates and, as a conse-
quence, have undergone adaptive radiations of great variety. The lorisids are of
equal interest for just the opposite reason. In the face of competition from higher
primates and an even larger variety of nonprimate forms, they have successfully
adapted in a variety of very different but equally complex ways.
These two major groups of prosimians must not, however, be viewed in isolation
MARTIN, R. D., DOYLE, G. Α., and WALKER, A. C, eds. (1974). "Prosimian Biology,"
Duckworth, London.
2T ATTERS ALL, I., and SUSSMAN, R. W., eds. (1975), "Lemur Biology." Plenum, New York.
3CHARLES-DOMINIQUE, P. (1977). "Behaviour and Ecology of Nocturnal Primates." Duckworth,
London.
xv
xvi
Preface
from one another and intelligent discussion continues on the "when" and "how"
of their common ancestry (see, for example, Charles-Dominique and Martin,
1970).4 For that matter it is equally important that the prosimians must not be
viewed in isolation from the simian primates and the present volume might well
be the last book, at least for some time, to be devoted exclusively to the prosi-
mians. There is a danger of the prosimian research worker regarding himself as a
"prosimianologist" with all the inherent consequences of insulating himself from
the main stream of primatology in general.
Indeed, some primatologists have voiced disquiet recently at the growth of a
discipline name for a taxonomic group with which it is primarily concerned (S.
A. Altmann, personal communication; J. H. Crook, personal communication)
and the resulting isolation from the still broader mainstream of evolutionary
biology. Altmann notes, for instance, that primate field studies have been slow to
incorporate modern ecological and sociobiological concepts and wonders if the
primatologist would be better advised to interact with those whose research is
more like his own conceptually rather than taxonomically. Primatology, how-
ever, is here to stay and if we heed Altmann's advice we can have the best of both
worlds.
Whichever view we take there is a growing and continual need for books like the
present volume. From its early conception, the idea took root that the book should
be written by a group of people, each member working in a specific behavioral or
behavior-related area. From time to time the scientific community needs some-
thing that will help it take stock of the progress of research in a particular area.
This cannot be provided by scientific journals but only by international confer-
ences and synoptic books. The research worker also needs the opportunity to
present the fruits of a number of years of concentrated research in his own
specific field of endeavor. Again, this cannot be provided by current journals
with their unavoidable restrictions on space, nor in this case, can it be provided
by international meetings with their equally unavoidable restrictions on time.
Reviews of recent books on prosimians have been overwhelmingly kind for a
number of reasons. The main reason is that prosimians have not received their fair
share of attention in the proliferation of studies on primates that has marked the
last 20 odd years and yet is common cause, as Doyle and Martin (1974) 5 point
out, that no full understanding of the course of primate evolution will ever be
arrived at if one entire group of primates is neglected. Behavior studies, particu-
larly field studies, are more difficult to carry out than laboratory studies, but these
difficulties are by no means insurmountable as recent studies have shown. Recent
books on the prosimians have gone a long way to redress both these imbalances
and it would be true to say that, particularly with the publication of the present
4CHARLES-DOMINIQUE, P., and MARTIN, R. D. (1970). Nature (London) 225, 139-144.
5DOYLE, G. Α., and MARTIN, R. D. (1974). In "Prosimian Biology" (R. D. Martin, G. A. Doyle,
and A. C. Walker, eds.), pp. 4-14. Duckworth, London.
Preface xvii
book, behavior is no longer a neglected area although there are still a number of
species that have not yet been studied at all.
Each of the contributors in the present volume has been working for many years
in the area in which he has contributed a chapter. The purpose of each chapter is
twofold: first, it gives each author an opportunity to present new, hitherto unpub-
lished, data on his research and, second, it places these data within the context of
a review or overview of work done in his particular area. The chapters were
chosen to provide as complete a coverage as possible of the field of prosimian
behavior. Some cross-referencing has been done but by and large each chapter
represents a synthesis and overview in its own right. No attempt has been made at
providing an overall synthesis.
So many people contribute to the production of a volume such as this and in so
many ways that it would be impossible to mention them all. Special mention must
be made, however, of those who helped in the practical side of its production.
Dorci Carpenter-Frank, Berna Struwig, and Wendy Cullinan typed and, in many
cases, retyped all the chapters. R. D. Martin translated several of the French
chapters into English. Heather Brand and Tina Scheffer, Research Assistants
to the senior editor, helped with bibliographical checking and in this connec-
tion special tribute must be paid to the staff of the Inter-Library Loans
Department and Miss L. Van Schaardenburg. Printing and technical help with
illustrations were provided by Colin Emslie and Adolph Veenstra of the Educa-
tional Technology Unit of the University of the Witwatersrand, and by Mark
Hudson and Theo Bekker. Charles Darlington of the Printing Department of the
University of the Witwatersrand and Frans Mashu willingly provided duplicating
services. Last but not least the editors gratefully acknowledge the guidance and
patience of the editorial staff of Academic Press throughout all stages of the
production of this book.
G. A. Doyle
R. D. Martin
THE STUDY OF PROSIMIAN BEHAVIOR
1
Chapter
Classification of the Prosimians
JEAN-JACQUES PETTER
AND ARLETTE PETTER-ROUSSEAUX
1. Introduction 1
2. Status of the Tupaiidae 2
3. Status of the Tarsiidae 2
4. The Origin of the Primates 4
5. Foundations of the Classification of the Strepsirhini 5
5.1. Analysis of the Characters Employed in the Classification of the Strepsirhini 5
5.2. The Importance of Small-Bodied Forms 14
6. Notes on the Classification of the Strepsirhini 15
6.1. Classification of the Lorisidae 16
6.2. Classification of the Cheirogaleidae, Lemuridae, Lepilemuridae,
Indriidae, and Daubentoniidae 23
7. Proposals for a Revised Classification of the Extant Strepsirhini 38
References 42
1. INTRODUCTION
Despite the interest which the prosimians attract and the numerous publications
which have emerged from their study, the systematics of the group remain contro-
versial and there are still a number of problems concerning the phylogenetic rela-
tionships of certain extant forms. The main object of this chapter is, in fact, to
contribute to research on the evolution of the prosimians. Although certain criti-
cisms will be raised, the aim is not to modify radically Simpson's (1945) classifica-
tion, which is widely recognized internationally and provides a practical basis for
the organization of many museum collections. It is an important point that it would
be a difficult task to modify the organization of museum systems to keep pace with
new publications, and nonspecialists would in any case have difficulty in finding
specimens. Accordingly, the preliminary results proposed here should be regarded
ι
Copyright © 1979 by Academic Press, Inc.
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
ISBN 0-12-222150-8