Male-biased dominance in greater bamboo lemurs (<i>Prolemur simus</i>)

Abstract

Intersexual dominance relationships in virtually all lemur species have been reported to be female-biased. Although a claim of male dominance in greater bamboo lemurs (Prolemur simus) which was not supported by data is unusual against this background, it is in line with recent studies on other lemur species that suggest the existence of a continuum of intersexual dominance relationships. We therefore studied the details of agonistic interactions among adults of one captive group of P. simus at Cologne Zoo. This very preliminary study confirmed male-biased dominance because the adult male of the study group won all agonistic interactions with all three adult females, and the male was never dominated by any of the females. This result raises several interesting questions about the mechanisms and evolution of intersexual dominance relationships in group-living lemurs and should encourage similar future studies of additional groups of this species – ideally in the wild.