MALE-FEMALE AFFILIATIVE RELATIONSHIPS IN NATURALLY-OCCURRING RINGTAILED LEMURS (LEMUR CATTA) AT THE BEZA-MAHAFALY RESERVE, MADAGASCAR

Affiliative behavior between adult male and female ringtailed lemurs w as examined as part of a project concerning male affiliation with cons pecifics of all age/sex classes. Males in three social groups were stu died over a 12 month period. Male-female preferred partnerships existe d, and were variable according to reproductive season. Dominance rank, age, or tenure of the male did not appear to affect either the number of partnerships or frequency of affiliative behaviors that males had with females. However, males residing in groups with fewer males exhib ited both higher frequencies of affiliative interactions with females and were nearest neighbors to females more often than males living in a group containing more males. Females were found to be responsible fo r proximity maintenance of male-female dyads in the majority of cases. Neither reproductive season nor seasonal availability of food resourc es strongly affected the frequency of affiliative interactions between males and females. it is proposed that an important aspect of success ful group membership for male ringtailed lemurs relates to the develop ment of social relationships with adult females. Males can benefit fro m such relationships in terms of greater centrality to the spatial cor e of the group, which can result in enhanced predator protection, grea ter opportunities for social contact, and potentially greater access t o estrous females. (C) 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.