Comoro Archipelago

GROUP STRUCTURE AND ACTIVITY RHYTHM IN LEMUR MONGOZ (PRIMATES, LEMURIFORMES) ON ANJOUAN AND MOHELI ISLANDS, COMORO ARCHIPELAGO IAN TATTERSALL VOLUME 53: PART 4 ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY NEW YORK :1976 4 .4.4.4.4 .4.4 4.4.4 .4.4 4.4 - . ..4 ..4.4.4 o -Q ¼' 11 I, -_7 Tf., GROUP STRUCTURE AND ACTIVITY RHYTHM IN LEMUR MONGOZ (PRIMATES, LEMURIFORMES) ON ANJOUAN AND MOHELI ISLANDS, COMORO ARCHIPELAGO IAN TATTERSALL Associate Curator, Department ofAnthropology TheAmerncan Museum ofNatural History VOLUME 53: PART 4 ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY NEW YORK: 1976 ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Volume 53, Part 4, pages 367-380, figures 1-6, tables 1, 2 Issued December 30, 1976 Price. $1.1 5 ISSN 0065-9452 This Part completes Volume 53. Copyright i The American Museum of Natural History 1976 ABSTRACT A previous study in Madagascar revealed the day. This difference appears to be environ- Lemur mongoz to be nocturnal and to exhibit mentally linked. Further, on Anjouan L. mongoz pair-bonding. Subsequent work in the Comoro Is- exhibits pair-bonding and the formation of lands has shown that, whereas in the warm, "family" groups, but on Moheli there is variation seasonal lowland areas of Moheli and Anjouan L. in group structure. It is possible that group com- mongoz is likewise nocturnal, in the humid high- position of L. mongoz on Moheli undergoes lands of Anjouan these animals are active during seasonal change. RItSUMI! Une premiere etude de Lemur mongoz de jour. Cette difference semble etre liee a Madagascar a revele que celui-ci est nocturne et l'environnement. De plus, a Anjouan Lemur qu'il vit par couples de deux adultes avec ou sans mongoz se montre en couples de deux adultes enfants de moins de deux ans. Une etude sui- avec ou sans enfants, alors qu'a Moheli on ren- vante faite aux Comores a montre que dans les contre une certaine variete dans la structure du basses terres chaudes et saisonnieres de Moheli et groupe. I1 est possible que la composition de d'Anjouan Lemur mongoz est egalement noc- groupe de Lemur mongoz a Moheli soit sujette a turne, alors que dans les hauteurs humides des changements saisonniers. d'Anjouan ces animaux sont actifs pendant le INTRODUCTION With the exception of Lemur fulvus, the only Tattersall, In press). Among the more un- lemur species represented by wild-living popu- expected results of that study were that, at least lations outside Madagascar is Lemur mongoz seasonally, L. mongoz a) lives in "family" (=Lemurmongoz mongoz of most authors).' Such groups, containing an adult male and an adult populations are restricted to the Comoro Islands, female with or without immature offspring, and an archipelago of volcanic origin lying in the b) is nocturnal in its activity pattern. In both of northern part of the Mozambique Channel, be- these characteristics L. mongoz is unique among tween Madagascar and Africa (fig. 1). Of the four those members of its genus studied to date. islands comprising the archipelago, L. mongoz is From mid-November, 1974, to early January, found on two: Anjouan (424 km2) and Moheli 1975, a survey was undertaken of the L. mongoz (290 km2). Although the means of introduction populations of Moheli and Anjouan, during which of lemurs to the Comoros remains obscure, as attention was particularly directed toward group does its timing, this seems most likely to have composition and activity rhythm. This was done occurred as a result of human activities (Tatter- largely in order to test the possibility that noc- sall, In press). tumality and the formation of "family" groups The only previously published study of L. were seasonal or locale-specific in the Malagasy mongoz was carried out during July and August animals studied in 1973, and to augment the of 1973 at Ampijoroa, Madagascar, by the pres- rather narrow data-base of that study. ent author in collaboration with Dr. R. W. Suss- man (Tattersall and Sussman, 1975; Sussman and ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 'The species L. mongoz is generally considered to This study could not have been undertaken contain two subspecies: L. m. mongoz and L. m. coro- without the active co-operation of the Comorian natus. However, for a variety of reasons, which will be authorities. In particular, thanks are due the discussed elsewhere, it is clear that coronatus deserves following officials: in Moroni, M. Omar Tamou, separate specific status. Ministre du Developpement Rural; M. Ahmed 369 370 ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY VOL. 53 FIG. 1. Location and disposition of the Comoro Islands in the Mozambique Channel. Djabir, Directeur de l'Agriculture; M. Mouhtar Richard and Robert W. Sussman for reading and Rachide, Directeur de la Production, Eaux et commenting on it. Finally, my thanks above all Forets; Dr. Francis Debuissy, Veterinaire; and M. to Mle. Christine Lemery, who suffered through Robert Tapia, Conseiller Technique. In Anjouan: it all. Mm. Swabahaddine Ben Said Mohamed, Ibrahim Mohamed and Nadjib Ahmed, all of the Circon- PELAGE AND AGING CRITERIA scriptions Agricole or Forestiere, Mutsamudu; and the Prefet, M. Abdul Karim Said Omar; also In conditions of good visibility, discrimination M. Affane Mohamed, of Domoni. In Moh6li: M. between the sexes of Comorian L. mongoz posed le Prefet and M. le Chef de la Circonscription no problem because of a marked sexual di- Agricole, Fomboni; M. Mohamed Chararoumane, chromatism in the region of the head. Most use- Chef de l'Elevage; and M. Baco Mari, Surveillant fully, the cheeks and beard of the females (fig. 2) des Forets; also Mm. Halidi Combo and Ali are invariably white, whereas those of the males M'Lindri. Among private individuals, I especially (fig. 3) are a reddish brown. Additionally, the thank M. and Mme. J.-C. Favetto of Moroni; M. males possess gray faces and white muzzles, in and Mme. Soubreville, M. and Mme. Lavarec, and contrast to the black faces of the females, whose M. and Mme. Freville of Mutsamudu; and M. and muzzles usually possess a much less pronounced Mme. Latrille and M. and Mme. Ecrepont of whitish spot toward the tip. No evidence at all Fomboni. The study was made possible by a was found of the two color variants observed grant (no. 1305) from the National Geographic among males from the Madagascar mainland Society of Washington, D.C.; I am most grateful (Tattersall and Sussman, 1975). for the Society's generous support. The line The sexual distinction is less marked in terms drawings are the work of Ms. Marjorie Shepatin; I of body coloration, which is predominantly of a am grateful to Ms. Debra Anne Dobbs for her mid- to light-gray, usually with reddish brown help with the manuscript, and to Drs. Alison elements. It was found, however, particularly in 1 976 TATTERSALL: LEMUR MONGOZ 371 individuals from Anjouan, that whereas the vari- study to distinguish between male and female ably extensive reddish brown fur of the male juveniles and infants. tends to be restricted to the foreparts of the No direct information exists on the timing of animal, that of the females is generally concen- the breeding and birth seasons in Comorian, or, trated posteriorly, leaving the shoulders, fore- indeed, in Malagasy L. mongoz. Tattersail and limbs, neck, and top of the head a pure gray. Sussman (1975) found that the stages of develop- Resemblance to Malagasy L. mongoz is greatest ment of young L. mongoz in northwest Madagas- in animals from Moheli, where the mixture of car agreed with the assumption that the birth colors on the body is often somewhat more season of this form coincides with that of L. f: diffuse. Lemur mongoz from Anjouan, particu- fulvus in the same area; this would place the larly from the highlands, appears to be slightly birth season in mid-October. Extension of this larger than that from Moheli, and possesses a assumption to the Comoros suggests that the highly characteristic physiognomy. infant/juveniles observed in Moheli in mid- Infants and younger juveniles display the November were approximately four weeks of white cheeks and beard, and usually the dark age, and that those observed in Anjouan at the face, characteristic of the adult female (fig. 4). end of the study in early January were aged Only toward the very end of the survey were around 11 weeks. At the beginning of the study some reddish elements beginning to appear on the most precocious infants were beginning to the cheeks (but not yet on the throats) of some leave their mothers' backs and move around juvenile males. No attempt was made during the independently (transition from infant to juvenile .s Fi, 4 S \'e.X: .... X ;e,'u'^i. .. ,. 5,:' t W ) .t ,< .4' 't, \ 40 s .. .x.a FIG. 2. Adult female Lemur mongoz from Anjouan. 372 ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY VOL. 53 k J. .4''k .; .Ak.a FIG. 3. Adult male Lemur mongoz from Anjouan. status) for part of the time; again, if analogy with portion of occasions such as when the genital L. fulvus is permissible, this would suggest an age immaturity of males was observable. The cate- of four to five weeks since Sussman (In press) gory has not, therefore, been formally recognized recorded that at about four weeks of age the in the census tables presented here. young L. f. rufus begins to leave the mother's back. The transition to fully independent status THE ENVIRONMENT is a lengthy one, however; according to Sussman the infant L. f. rufus spends only 30 percent of Moheli, the smallest of the Comoros, is not its time away from the mother at 11-12 weeks, complex topographically.

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