Dissertation Research: Individual Feeding Behavior in Population of Wild Lemur Catta on the Island of Madagascar

这项研究旨在确定环尾狐猴(Lemura Catta)摄食行为的个体差异。研究人员将比较马达加斯加两组自由放养狐猴的觅食行为和资源利用情况。具体地说，研究人员将调查男性和女性成年人在进食、食物消耗和对进食地点的使用上所花费的时间。她将确定生殖状态、活动水平、性别、年龄和社会地位对觅食行为和饮食的影响。尽管环尾狐猴是圈养中研究最好的原猴，但野生狐猴从未成为这类深入研究的对象。预计除了提供有关个体觅食行为的数据外，这项研究还将提供其他灵长类动物和人类亟需的行为比较。这项研究是及时和重要的。关于觅食行为的信息是狐猴，特别是生活在野外的狐猴，可悲的是缺乏这些信息。以前的研究集中在不同物种或同一物种不同群体成员之间取食行为的差异，但很少关注在理解栖息地、社会结构和个体之间的关系方面的差异。此外，灵长类动物栖息地的减少和狩猎的增加意味着必须尽快进行这类研究，以提高物种的生存能力。

This research is concerned with determining individual differences in feeding behavior in ring-tailed lemurs, Lemura catta. The researcher will compare feeding behavior and resource utilization in two groups of free-ranging lemurs in Madagascar. Specifically, the researcher will investigate the time spent in feeding, food consumption, and use of feeding sites by male and female adults. She will identify the effects of reproductive state, activity level, gender, age and social ranking on feeding behavior and diet. Even though ring-tailed lemurs are the best studied prosimians in captivity, wild Lemur catta have never been the subject of an in-depth study of this kind. It is expected that in addition to providing data on individual feeding behavior, the study will provide much-needed behavioral comparisons to other primates and humans. The research is timely and important. Information on feeding behavior is Lemurs, especially those living in the wild is sadly lacking. Prior studies have concentrated on differences in feeding behavior between different species or members of different groups of the same species, but very few have looked at variation in understanding the relationship between habitat, social structure, and the individual. In addition, the dwindling habitat of primates and the increase in hunting means that research of this type must be conducted soon in order to enhance the survival of species.