Lemur Biology

ISBN-13: 9781468421231 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 366 str.

Ian Tattersall

Opis

The volume of studies on prosimian primates has, until recently, tended to lag well behind that of studies on the higher primates. This is so despite the fact that the considerable intrinsic interest of the living prosimians and the signifi cance of their stuQ, y for our understanding of the earlier stages of primate evolution have long been acknowledged by zoologists, paleontologists, and anthropologists alike. Among the prosimians, the Malagasy lemurs are of profound interest not only because they include the only extant diurnal forms, but also because it is only on Madagascar that the absence of competition with higher primates has allowed a surviving prosimian fauna to radiate, es sentially unrestricted, into a broad spectrum of ecological zones. In contrast, the few extant prosimians of Africa and Asia occupy a relatively narrow range of "refuge" niches; although of considerable interest in themselves, they do not show the richness and variety of adaptation which make the Malagasy prosimian fauna such a fascinating object of study. Over the past few years, however, there has been a considerable resur gence of interest in the prosimians in general, and in the lemurs in particular. The range of studies resulting from this rekindling of interest is wide, compre hending the systematics, evolution, anatomy, behavior, and ecology of these forms. This volume constitutes a progress report on our knowledge of the le murs."

Spis treści

I Introductory.- 1 History of Study of the Malagasy Lemurs, with Notes on Major Museum Collections.- 2 Notes on Topography, Climate, and Vegetation of Madagascar.- II Systematics and Evolution.- 3 The Significance of Chromosomal Studies in the Systematics of the Malagasy Lemurs.- 4 Development and Eruption of the Premolar Region of Prosimians and Its Bearing on Their Evolution.- 5 Dentition of Adapis parisiensis and the Evolution of Lemuriform Primates.- III Morphology and Physiology.- 6 Structure of the Ear Region in Living and Subfossil Lemurs.- 7 Notes on the Cranial Anatomy of the Subfossil Malagasy Lemurs.- 8 The Lemur Scapula.- 9 Osteology and Myology of the Lemuriform Postcranial Skeleton.- 10 Body Temperatures and Behavior of Captive Cheirogaleids.- IV Behavior and Ecology.- 11 Observations on the Behavior and Ecology of Phaner furcifer.- 12 Lemur catta: Ecology and Behavior.- 13 A Preliminary Study of the Behavior and Ecology of Lemur fulvus rufus Audebert 1800.- 14 Field Observations of Social Behavior of Lemur fulvus fulvus E. Geoffroy 1812.- 15 Preliminary Notes on the Behavior and Ecology of Hapalemur griseus.- 16 Field Observations on Indri indri: A Preliminary Report.- 17 An Analysis of the Social Behavior of Three Groups of Propithecus verreauxi.- V Epilogue.- 18 Future of the Malagasy Lemurs: Conservation of Extinction?.

O autorze

Ian Tattersall is a paleanthropologist and a curator emeritus with the American Museum of Natural History in New York. In addition to human evolution, Tattersall has worked extensively with lemurs. Tattersall is currently working with The Templeton Foundation.