Behavioural ecology and conservation of the Anosy mouse lemur (Microcebus tanost) in the littoral forests of southeastern Madagascar
Mouse lemurs are widely regarded as an ideal model taxa to study behavioural ecology, sociality and evolution in primates, however relatively few recognised forms have been studied to date. The principal aim of this work is to investigate the behavioural and ecological character of the Anosy mouse lemur (Microcebus tanosi) and to relate these new insights to species conservation in the littoral forests of Sainte Luce. The littoral forests of southeast Madagascar represent a distinct phytogeographic habitat, characterised by tremendous species richness and floristic diversity, however, they have been severely impacted by human activities over the past century. At the outset, very little ecological data was available for M. tanosi. Across five data chapters I investigate the species' broad morphological flexibility, its ranging behaviour and social system, sleeping and nesting behaviours and its long-term demographic descriptives. I go on to contextualise the wider conservation challenges facing littoral biodiversity in Sainte Luce. This study finds no evidence for sexual dimorphism but detects subtle morphological differences between isolated con-specific populations. Microcebus tanosi home ranges overlap substantially both inter and intra-sexually and are consistent with a dispersed social neighbourhood and promiscuous mating system, with males ranging over significantly larger areas than females. No evidence was found for the spatial monopolisation of receptive females by dominant males. Although M. tanosi is an apparent habitat generalist, utilising a wide variety of sleeping sites and tree species in the littoral forests, population density is low. Results indicate that predator avoidance best explains the patterns governing sleep site selection and highlights the key role of Pandanacae species. This study demonstrates the importance of long-term population monitoring for nocturnal lemurs and highlights the critical relevance of local phenomena and forest management strategy for species conservation. Finally, this work provides several recommendations to counteract the observed decline in biodiversity in Sainte Luce.
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