Hapalemur griseus griseus
Lesser Bamboo Lemur

Hapalemur griseus vigilant on a bamboo culm^P1

Identification

Hapalemur griseus is the smallest bamboo lemur. It has a grey body, possibly with a reddish tinge to the head. It can look like H. simus, but a closer glance will reveal the lack of ear tufts and the smaller size.

Hapalemur griseus griseus at RNP

There are six or seven groups of H. griseus griseus in the Talatakely Trail System at RNP, two of which have been studied by Chia Tan. There are many more in other parts of the reserve, D.Overdorff, S. Strait and C. Grassi have studied several groups up at Vatoharanana.

The ranges of Chia Tan's study groups overlap with those of the other Hapalemur species in the park. (Tan, 1999a)

Physical Characteristics

Head & Body Length (Meier et al, 1987)	284mm (11in)
Tail Length (Meier et al 1987)	36.6mm (14in)
Weight (Kappeler 1991) (Tan, 1999)	892g (31.5oz)	939g (33oz)
	935g (33oz)

Life History

Parked infant in Nov ^P2

Parked infant

Mother returns to infant

Infant moves to mother and climbs on

H. griseus griseus generally mates in May /June and gives birth in September (gestation 137 days (Tan 1999b)), though births have been observed as late as April (Tan 1999b). Very young infants are carried in the mother's mouth (Wright 1990; Tan 1999b). Infants are "parked" by their mothers when small. In captivity males will carry the young occasionally (Mittermeier et al 1994). Weaning occurs at 4 months (at the time of greatest food availability, Wright 1999).

One infant is produced per year, and females breed every year. (Tan 1999a)

Locomotion

Locomotion is by vertical clinging and leaping (Mittermeier et al 1994) ^{.8Mb V2} though a quadrupedal gait is common on horizontal substrates^{1Mb V3}.

Diet & Feeding

In Chia Tan's study groups, H. griseus griseus spent 72% of its feeding time on one species of bamboo, Cathariostachys madagascariensis (volohosy in the local dialect of Malgache, or giant bamboo in English), 16% on other bamboo species (including bamboo grasses), 4% non-bamboo foliage, 5% fruit, and 3% other. (Tan 1999a)

H. griseus prefers young leaf bases, immature pseudopetioles, branch shoots and occasionally shoots themselves (Wright and Randriamanantena, 1989, Glander et al., 1989; Tan, 1999a).

In Deborah Overdorff's study group in Vatoharanana (approximately 5 km south of Talatakely), 89% of feeding was on bamboo (Overdorff et al 1997), even though C. madagascariensis does not grow at her study site the total time spent on bamboo is similar. However her animals spent more time feeding on mature leavesof non-bamboo plants.

Christina Grassi studied three groups (2 at Vatoharana, 1 in Talatakely) and found high variability in the feeding patterns of the different groups depending greatly on the different resources available within different territories. (Grassi 2000)

In Talatakely, H. g. griseus eat parts of C. madagascariensis that are high in cyanide (Tan 1999a).

H. griseus eats shoots that are, on average .8cm in diameter, much smaller than those eaten by either H. aureus (2.1cm) or H. simus (6.0cm) (Tan 2000).

Note: The sample size for H. g. g. is small because they rarely eat volohosy ground shoots. (Tan, 2000; Tan, in review)

Activity Pattern

Recent studies (Overdorff et al 1997, Tan 1999b, Tan 2000) suggest H. griseus is diurnal. They often take a siesta mid-day. They feed most after waking in the morning and before sleeping in the evening. Overdorff reports that they consistently went to sleep between 17:30 and 18:00 (Overdorff et al 1997).

Activity varies seasonally (Overdorff et al 1997) with less activity in the warm wet months than in the colder drier months (dry is not a good description, this is a time of constant slow drizzle, the quantity of rain falling is relatively small, the time spent raining is large). In the cold season they rest more in the morning than in the wet. They were observed to sun themselves (presumably to warm up) during this period.

Overdorff and colleagues report that they spend less time resting during the cold season than Avahi laniger or Lepilemur leucopus (other small-bodied folivorous lemurs), and hypothesize that this may be because they are diurnal while the other two are nocturnal.

Predators

Definite predators:

Boa manditra

Has been observed to prey upon Hapalemur griseus. (Rakotondravony & Goodman, 1998, Goodman, O'Conner & Langrand, 1993b)

Owls

Asio madagascariensis has been observed to prey upon Hapalemur griseus. (Goodman, Langrand & Raxworthy, 1993)

Madagascar serpent eagle

Jean-Marie RALIVA observed Eutriochis astur to prey on H. griseus at RNP (Raliva JM, personal comunication)

Potential predators would be:

The fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox)

This animal is certainly present in the Park and has been observed to prey upon H. simus. (Wright et al, 1997)

Other Raptors

Have been observed to prey upon various lemur species.

Other lemurs

Eulemur fulvus ssp. have been observed to eat infant Lemur catta  and infant conspecifics at Berenty (A. Jolly et al, 2000).

Man, dogs, and cats

Geographic Range

Hapalemur griseus griseus is widely distributed over the primary and secondary forests near the eastern coast (Link 1795).

There are three other subspecies, one, H. g. alaotrensis is found only around Lac Alaotra and is greatly threatened (Mutschler and Feistner, 1995, Pastorini et al., 1999). Another H. g. meridionalis is only found near Fort Dauphin in the south (Warter et al 1987, Warter & Tattersal 1994). While the last, H. g. occidentalis, is found in areas in the west and northwest and possibly in the north as well (Tattersall, 1982; Petter and Andriatsarafara, 1987; Rakotoarison et al., 1993; Thalmann and Rakotoarison, 1994; Curtis et al., 1995; Hawkins et al., 1998; Hawkins et al., 1990).

Taxonomy

Mammalia -> Primata (Strepsirrhini, Lemuriformes) -> Lemuridae (Lemurianae) -> Hapalemur griseus griseus

Curtis, D. J., Zaramody, A. and Rabetsimialona, O. D. 1995. Sighting of the western gentle lemur Hapalemur griseus occidentalis in north-west Madagascar. Oryx 29:215-217.

Glander, K. E. et al, 1989. "Consumption of cyanogenic bamboo by a newly discovered species of bamboo lemur", American Journal of Primatology, 19: 119-124

Goodman, SM, Langrand O, Raxworthy CL, 1993 "Food habits of the Madagascar Long-Eared Owl Asio madagascariensis in two habitats in Southern Madagascar", Ostrich 64(2) 79-85

Goodman, SM, O'Conner S, Langrand O, 1993 "A review of predation on lemurs: Implications for the evolution of social behavior in small, nocturnal primates", Lemur Social Systems and their Ecological Basis, 51-66

Grassi C, 2000, "Variability in Habitat, Diet, and Social Structure of Hapalemur griseus griseus", American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Supplement 30, 164

Hawkins, A. F. A., Chapman, P. Ganzhorn, J. U., Bloxam, Q. M. C., Barlow, S. C., and Tonge, S. J. 1990. Vertebrate conservation in Ankarana Special Reserve, northern Madagascar. Biological Conservation 54:83-110.

Hawkins, A. F. A., Durbin, J. C. and Reid, D. B. 1998. The primates of the Baly Bay area, north-western Madagascar. Folia Primatologica 69:337-345.

Jolly, A. et al, 2000 "Infant killing, wounding and predation in Eulemur and Lemur", International Journal of Primatology, 21:(1) 20-40

Kappeler, PM, 1991, "Patterns of sexual dimorphism in body weight among prosimian primates", Folia Primatologica, 57:132-146

Karpanty SM, Goodman SM, 1999 "Prey profile of the Madagascar Harrier-Hawk, Polyboroides radiatus in southeastern Madagascar", Journal of Raptor Research, 33: 313-316

Link, JA; 1795 "Lemur griseus", Bettr. Naturg. (in 2 Stück), 65

Macedonia et al, 1994, "Phylogeny of the Lemuridae", Folia Primatologica, 63(1):1-43

Meier, B. et al, 1987, "A new species of Hapalemur primates from south-eastern Madagascar", Folia Primatologica, 48:211-215

Mittermeier, Russell et al, 1994, The Lemurs of Madagascar, Conservation International

Mutschler, T. and Feistner, A. T. C. 1995. "Conservation status and distribution of the Alaotran gentle lemur Hapalemur griseus alaotrensis". Oryx 29:267-274.

Overdorff, Deborah J, et al, 1997 "Seasonal variation in activity and diet in a small-bodied folivorous primate, Hapalemur griseus in Southeastern Madagascar", American Journal of Primatology 43(3), 211-233

Pastorini, J., Forstner, M. R. J. and Martin, R. D. 1999. "Molecular phylogenetics of Lemuridae". Centenary Congress of the Anthropological Institute and Museum in Zurich, 1899-1999. Program and Abstracts, p. 40.

Petter, J.-J. and Andriatsarafara, S. 1987. "Conservation status and distribution of lemurs in west and north-west Madagascar". Primate Conservation 8:169-171.

Rakotoarison, N., Mutschler, T. and Thalmann, U. 1993. "Lemurs in Bemaraha (World Heritage Landscape, western Madagascar)". Oryx 27:35-40.

Rakotondravony D, Goodman SM, 1998, "Predation on Hapalemur griseus griseus by Boa manditra (Boidae) in the Littoral Forest of Eastern Madagascar", Folia Primatologica, 69(6) 405-408

Rowe, Noel, 1996, The Pictorial Guide to the Living Primates, Pogonias Press

Santini-Palka ME, 1994, "Feeding Behavior and Activity Pattern of 2 Malgasy Bamboo Lemurs, H. simus and H. griseus, in captivity", Folia Primatologica 63(1) 44-49.

Tan, Chia L, 1998, "Comparison of food passage time in three species of Hapalemur", American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Supplement 26

Tan, Chia L, 1999a, "Group Composition, Home Range Size, and Diet of Three Sympatric Bamboo Lemur Species (Genus Hapalemur) in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar", International Journal of Primatology, 20(4) 547-566

Tan, Chia L, 1999b, "Life History and Infant Rearing Strategies of  Three Hapalemur Species", Primate Report, 54-1

Tan, Chia L, 2000, "Patterns of resource use in three sympatric Hapalemur species in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar", American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Supplement 30, 299

Tan, Chia L, in review, "Patterns of resource use in three sympatric Hapalemur species in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar"

Tattersall, I. 1982. The Primates of Madagascar. Columbia University Press, New York.

Thalmann, U. and Rakotoarison, N. 1994. "Distribution of lemurs in central western Madagascar, with a regional distribution hypothesis". Folia Primatologica 64:156-161.

U.S. Congress, 1973, "Threatened and Endangered Wildlife and Plants", U.S. Endangered Species Act

Warter, S., Randrianasolo, G., Dutrillaux, B. and Rumpler, Y. 1987. "Cytogenetic study of a new subspecies of Hapalemur griseus". Folia Primatologica 48:50-55.

Warter, S. and Tattersall, I. 1994. Update to the article “Cytogenetic study of a new subspecies of Hapalemur griseus”. Folia Primatologica 63:170.

Wright, P. C., and Randriamanantena, M. 1989, "Behavioral ecology of three sympatric bamboo lemurs in Madagascar", American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 78: 327

Wright, PC, 1990 "Patterns of Parental Care in Primates", International Journal of Primatology, 11:(2)89-102

Wright, P. C., et al 1997, "Predation on Milne Edwards Sifaka (Propithecus diadema edwardsi) by the fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) in the rainforest of southeastern Madagascar", Folia Primatologica 68(1) 34-43.

Wright, P.C. 1999 "Lemur traits and Madagascar ecology: coping with an island environment." Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 42: 31-72.

H.g.g. feeding on leaves^P7

-- RNP Main -- Other Lemurs at RNP -- Lemur Taxonomy -- Comments -- Copyright --
-- H. aureus -- H. simus --
-- Bamboo Glossary --