Propithecus

Diversity

The genus Propithecus includes nine species which are commonly known as sifakas.They are a part of the family Indriidae , which includes the genera Avahi (avahis or woolly lemurs) and Indri (indris). Propithecus was originally divided into two species, Propithecus verreauxi and Propithecus diadema . A third species, Propithecus tattersali , was discovered in 1998. The additional species that are recognized now were originally subspecies under P. verreauxi and P. diadema , but were elevated to species status based on molecular and morphometric evidence. Propithecus species tend to live in social groups that have multiple males and females, whereas species in the genera Avahi (avahis or woolly lemurs) and Indri (indris) live in monogamous pairs.

Geographic Range

All species of Propithecus are found in the Ethiopian region in Madagascar. Propithecus candidus is found north of the Bay of Antongil which is in north Madagascar. Propithecus coquereli is found in Morondova, Madagascar, which is found on the west coast of Madagascar in the middle of the island. Propithecus coronatus is found in the Boueny province, Madagascar, which is on the northwest coast of Madagascar. Propithecus deckenii is found in Kanatsy, Madagascar, which is found on the west coast of Madagascar. Propithecus diadema is found all over Madagascar. Propithecus edwardsi is found west of Mananjary in Madagascar which is on the east coast of Madagascar. Propithecus perrieri is found in the forest of Analamera, south-east of Diego Suarez on the north coast of Madagascar. Propithecus tattersalli is found in dry forests about 6-7 km north-east of Daraina, Antseranana province on the north coast of Madagascar. Propithecus verreauxi is found in Tsifanihy, Madagascar, which is found north of cap Sainte-Marie.

• Biogeographic Regions
• ethiopian ethiopian
  • native native

• Other Geographic Terms
• island endemic island endemic

Habitat

A lot of the Propithecus species reside in northwestern Madagascar, which has dry, deciduous forests that allow the Sifaka's to leap from tree to tree. They tend to reside in areas with tropical climates with a wet and dry season which occupies the rain shadow making a relatively long and pronounced dry season. However, Propithecus edwardsi are found on the east coast of Madagascar which includes a narrow strip of humid forests, where there is a slightly drier and cooler season from May to September. The Propithecus genus mostly tends to lie in areas that have tropical climates with a lot of trees which allows them to use their strong back legs to jump from tree to tree and to create their homes.

• Habitat Regions
• tropical tropical
• terrestrial terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• forest forest

Systematic and Taxonomic History

The genus Propithecus is included in the family Indriidae which also includes woolly lemurs and indris. Propithecus was originally divided into three species which were then divided into four or five subspecies in two of the species. Now there are nine species recognized under the genus.

Physical Description

Four of the species in Propithecus , Propithecus diadema (generally gray in color), Propithecus candidus (generally white in color), Propithecus perrieri (all black), and Propithecus edwardsi (generally black in color), all share several distinct features, including large average body sizes and mandibles that are specialized for rotational chewing. Their tail also does not reach beyond their heels and have loose fur. The other four species in Propithecus , Propithecus deckenii (all white), Propithecus coquereli (generally chestnut brown), Propithecus coronatus (generally black, white, gray, and red), and Propithecus verreauxi , all share several distinct features, such as being generally smaller, with not loose fur and a tail that projects beyond their heels. Finally, Propithecus tattersalli resembles the first set of species with their karyotypes and the short tail but resembles the second set of species with their vocalizations.

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic endothermic
• bilateral symmetry bilateral symmetry

Reproduction

Females have been seen mating with multiple males. Males compete for the female's attention in chasing matches, and those who outlast the other males. Females also mate with males that win in fighting competitions and even with males that are bystanders.

• Mating System
• polyandrous polyandrous

The mothers tend to give birth in a tamarind tree about eight to nine meters above the ground during the hours of 2:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. while the other members lay down for the night. The mothers only show discomfort for about 20-30 minutes before the birth when they clean the newborns and let them nurse. They then consume the placenta and umbilical cord.

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous iteroparous
• seasonal breeding seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual sexual
• viviparous viviparous

The mother is the primary caretaker and carrier for the young. In regards to Propithecus verreauxi , the father carries the infants significantly more than any other animal than the mother in regards to Propithecus diadema . Overall, Propithecus verreauxi showed more non-maternal care than Propithecus diadema .

• Parental Investment
• precocial precocial
• male parental care male parental care
• female parental care female parental care

Lifespan/Longevity

Not much is known about the longevity of Propithecus , but they can live up to 21-31 years in the wild. Specifically, with Propithecus diadema , they live up to 21 years and they have no signs of lowered reproduction with age, but they have higher mortality with older individuals. Then, with Propithecus verreauxi , they can live up to 31 in the wild. However, the infant mortality rate increases as the females giving birth get older. It was also found that mortality increases and fertility decrease after the age of 18.

Behavior

Propithecus have been seen committing infanticide among groups. Members of the group would encounter the mother with the infant while the mother vocalized and moved away from the other individual. Then a male will come up to the mother to groom the mother, which is when he grabs the infant and bites it, sometimes consuming parts of the infant. After the infant dies, the mother then gets attacked by the rest of the group and she flees. This happens more often when there are higher densities of Propethicus with low resources, so the explanation is thought to be that the other individuals are allowing themselves more resources by killing the infants.

It has also been noticed that when the diurnal Propithecus is sleep-deprived, there was recorded a great number of significant deviations from normal sleep conditions and they were shown to have recovery periods of less overall activity.

Further, Propithecus activity time follows how much daylight they have, and their activity remains stable and constant to the changing solar times throughout the year. During the cold and dry months, they shorten their activity time to the shortened day length. Energy input is also low during these months where they only eat mature leaves. Also, their nocturnal resting level is at its lowest during these months, which is an indicator of thermoregulatory adaptation.

• Key Behaviors
• arboreal arboreal
• scansorial
• diurnal diurnal
• motile motile
• sedentary sedentary
• daily torpor
• social social

Communication and Perception

Propithecus tend to scent-mark to communicate to other individuals. Females scent-mark more in their home range where it overlapped with that of other groups and would place them on food trees to defend their resources. Stained males tend to scent-mark more than females and the vast majority of their marks are overmarks, which is scent-marking over other scent-marks. They also tend to distribute their scent-marks randomly in their home ranges, and there is an increased amount of scent-marks from stained males during the mating season. On the other hand, clean-chested males scent-mark at significantly lower rates and do not mark in their home ranges. They also overmark after intergroup encounters after all of the other individuals had left. These scent-marks left by clean-chested males convey important information about their identity and status and they advertise their presence.

• Communication Channels
• acoustic acoustic
• chemical chemical

• Other Communication Modes
• scent marks scent marks

• Perception Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• chemical chemical

Food Habits

Propithecus are vegetarians that primarily feed on young and mature leaves of trees. However, they also tend to feed on lianas, parasites, hemiparasites, herbs, and ferns. Seeds are also an important food staple for them and they eat five times more of them than their cousins' indri indri. Other food items propithecus feeds on are flowers and soil, often red clay.

• Primary Diet
• herbivore herbivore
  • folivore folivore
  • granivore granivore

Predation

Populations of both Propithecus verreauxi and Propithecus coquereli are known to use alarm calls to warn other individuals of their populations about predators. Specifically, they both were seen to produce roaring barks to respond to predators in the air and responded to these calls in similar ways, by climbing down their trees, looking to the sky, and emitting roaring barks back. In populations of P. verreauxi , emitting growls caused different populations to either look down vs. up and to both climb up and down their trees. Further, some populations would growl in response to stray dogs whereas others produce tchi-faks in response to smaller predators. However, with P. coquereli , they would produce growls after roaring barks as an indicator of arousal. Overall, both species associate growls with the presence of a predator and act accordingly. Further, P. verreauxi only produces tchi-faks when they are being directly attacked and chased.

• Anti-predator Adaptations
• aposematic aposematic

Ecosystem Roles

Since Propithecus are frugivorious, they are probably primary seed dispersed by allowing seeds to pass through their digestive system, or they allow the leaves on their fur from living in trees. They also play an important role in the food chain for avian predators such as hawks and also for fossas.

• Ecosystem Impact
• disperses seeds

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

Propithecus have been known to be hunted for food. They are also important to the ecosystem and allow it to grow with their seed dispersal methods creating a need for ecotourism. Some species, such as, Propithecus verreauxi and Propithecus coquereli have been the subject of studies to provide information and insight for future scientists.

• Positive Impacts
• food food
• ecotourism ecotourism
• research and education

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

Propithecus has no negative impacts on humans.

Conservation Status

Propithecus edwardsi is the only species within the genus that is endangered, but it still has a decreasing population. The other species within Propithecus are critically endangered with their populations also decreasing. There is not much information on the number of individuals of some of the species, but Propithecus candidus is rapidly declining with only 249 individuals and Propithecus perrieri with only 125 individuals in the wild. As far as conservation efforts go, all of Propithecus is a part of a conservation site and that they are all part of international legislation, letting people know of their declining populations.

Additional Links

Encyclopedia of Life

Contributors

Hannah Noel (author), Colorado State University, Audrey Bowman (editor), Colorado State University.

References

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