Lemurs: Secret Social Drama Among Humanity's Distant Cousins
Wednesday, March 4, 2009 - 19:28
in Biology & Nature
Terror in the treetops: by measuring the presence of a stress hormone in the feces of male sifaka and correlating hormonal peaks with seasonal breeding events, primatologists have found hard evidence to support a far more complex social life for the cryptic lemurs than was previously theorized. Males invading a troop routinely kill male infants to improve mating prospects for their future offspring, showing that legacy matters for primates, even among primitive prosimians.