SEASONAL-VARIATION IN POSITIONAL BEHAVIOR OF MALAGASY LEMURS

I describe the positional behavior of four species of Malagasy lemur (Propithecus diadema, Eulemur fulvus rufus, Eulemur rubriventer, and Varecia variegata) at two times of year at Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar There were significant seasonal differences in locomotor behavior in all species except P. diadema Among the lemurids, leaping was more frequent and quadrupedism less frequent in the dry season. Only E. rubriventer exhibited seasonal differences in posture, and there were few seasonal differences in support we. The observed differences in positional behavior were not the result of differences in activity budget or in microhabitat use attributable to seasonal variation in resource use.