Hapalemur aureus
Golden Bamboo Lemur

Hapalemur aureus eating a branch shoot^P1

Identification

Hapalemur aureus is the medium sized bamboo lemur. It has a redish brown back, with a golden face and underbelly. It is easily distinguished from the other Hapalemur species by its color. It also lacks ear tufts which are present in H. simus, and is somewhat larger than H. griseus.

Hapalemur aureus at RNP

There are at least three groups of H. aureus in the Talatakely Trail System at RNP, two of which have been studied by Chia Tan.

H.a. female, Grp I, with skin disease^P2

In January of 1999 both Group I & II contained 4 individuals, an adult male, an adult female, a juvenile and an infant. In Group I the female has some skin or fur disease and her fur is spotted with white patches (I first noticed this condition in Oct '97, so she does not appear to be much bothered by it). The male has a Teal collar.

Over the years the group compositions have remained similar (in the 96-97 season Group I only 3 animals in it, aside from that there have been 4 animals per group).

Physical Characteristics

Head & Body Length (Meier et al, 1987)	395mm (15.5in)	370mm(14.5in)
Tail Length (Meier et al, 1987)	410mm (16in)	370mm(14.5in)
Weight (Glander et al 1989) (Meier, et al 1987) (Tan, 1999)	1500g (53oz)	1660g (58.5oz)
	1175g ()	1245g ()
	1548g (55oz)

Life History

Mother with infant ^P3

H. aureus mates in July/August and gives birth in early December with a gestation period of 138 days (Tan 1999b).

One infant is produced per year, and females breed every year. (Norosoarinaivo & Tan 1998)

H.a. vertical clinging P4

H.a.quadrupedalP5

Locomotion

Locomotion is by vertical clinging and leaping (Mittermeier et al 1994) ^{1Mb V2} though a quadrupedal gait is common on horizontal substrates ^{1Mb V3}. Leaping happens from both quadrupedal and vertical positions ^{1.6Mb V4}.

Diet & Feeding

H.a. male with shootP6 Note how large the shot is compared to the animal

H.a. male eating mushroomsP7

In Chia Tan's study groups, H. aureus spent 78% of its feeding time on one species of bamboo (Cathariostachys madagascariensis (formerly thought to be C. viguieri), volohosy in the local dialect of Malgache, or giant bamboo in English), 10% on other bamboo species (including bamboo grasses), 3% non-bamboo foliage, 4% fruit, and 5% other (mostly soil and mushrooms). (Tan 1999)

H. aureus prefers young leaf bases, immature pseudopetioles, branch shoots and shoots themselves.

• Attempting to break open a shoot ^{4.3Mb V5}
• Removing sheath from shoot ^{7.4Mb V6}
• Feeding ^{1.3Mb V7}
• Eating leaf bases ^{1.4Mb V8 1.4Mb V9}

The preferred bamboo parts (young leaf bases, young pseudopetioles and young shoots) are high in cyanide (Tan 1999, Glander et al 1989).

H. aureus eats volohosy ground shoots that are, on average 2.1cm in diameter. (Tan, 2000)

Note: The sample size for H. g. g. is small because they rarely eat volohosy ground shoots. (Tan, 2000; Tan, in review)

Activity Pattern

Chia Tan's study groups appeared diurnal (Tan, 2000).

Like many lemurs they take a long siesta in the middle of the day.

Predators

I can find no confirmed predation events on H. aureus in the literature.

Potential predators would be:

The fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox)

This animal is certainly present in the Park and has been observed to prey upon H. simus. (Wright et al, 1997)

Boa manditra

Has been observed to prey upon Hapalemur griseus. (Rakotondravony & Goodman, 1998)

Owls

Have been observed to prey upon Hapalemur griseus. (Goodman, Langrand & Raxworthy, 1993)

Raptors

Have been observed to prey upon various lemur species.

Other lemurs

Eulemur fulvus ssp. have been observed to eat infant Lemur catta  and infant conspecifics at Berenty (A. Jolly et al, 2000).

Man, dogs, and cats

Behavior

Social structure

All the groups observed in the TTS are single male single female family groups. H. aureus groups contain 2-4 individuals. (Wright & Randriamanantena 1989, Tan 1999a)

The home range area is about 26ha (Tan 1999a) Wright & Randriamanantena1989 claim 80ha for the species 10 years ago. Mean daily path length: 400m (Wright & Randriamanantena 1989)

Geographic Range

Hapalemur aureus is currently believed to be restricted to a few small patches of rainforest near the eastern coast. The species was unknown until 1987 (Meier et al 1987) so there are no earlier reports to compare with. --

H. aureus is currently considered to be one of the most endangered lemur species (Mittermeier et al, 1994).

Taxonomy

Mammalia -> Primata (Strepsirrhini, Lemuriformes) -> Lemuridae (Lemurianae) -> Hapalemur aureus

Glander, K. E. et al, 1989. "Consumption of cyanogenic bamboo by a newly discovered species of bamboo lemur", American Journal of Primatology, 19: 119-124

Goodman, SM, Langrand O, Raxworthy CL, 1993 "Food habits of the Madagascar Long-Eared Owl Asio madagascariensis in two habitats in Southern Madagascar", Ostrich 64(2) 79-85

Goodman, SM, O'Conner S, Langrand O, 1993 "A review of predation on lemurs: Implications for the evolution of social behavior in small, nocturnal primates", Lemur Social Systems and their Ecological Basis, 51-66

IUCN Conservation Monitoring Centre, viewed in July 2000, "Threatened Animals of the World", IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals

Jolly, A. et al, 2000 "Infant killing, wounding and predation in Eulemur and Lemur", International Journal of Primatology, 21:(1) 20-40

Karpanty SM, Goodman SM, 1999 "Prey profile of the Madagascar Harrier-Hawk, Polyboroides radiatus in southeastern Madagascar", Journal of Raptor Research, 33: 313-316

Macedonia et al, 1994, "Phylogeny of the Lemuridae", Folia Primatologica, 63(1):1-43

Meier, B. et al, 1987, "A new species of Hapalemur primates from south-eastern Madagascar", Folia Primatologica, 48:211-215

Mittermeier, Russell et al, 1994, The Lemurs of Madagascar, Conservation International

Norosoarinaivo, JA and Tan, CL, 1998, "Infant care in Hapalemur aureus, Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar", XVII International Primatological Society Congress Abstract.

Rakotondravony D, Goodman SM, 1998, "Predation on Hapalemur griseus griseus by Boa manditra (Boidae) in the Littoral Forest of Eastern Madagascar", Folia Primatologica, 69(6) 405-408

Rowe, Noel, 1996, The Pictorial Guide to the Living Primates, Pogonias Press

Tan, Chia L, 1998, "Comparison of food passage time in three species of Hapalemur", American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Supplement 26

Tan, Chia L, 1999, "Group Composition, Home Range Size, and Diet of Three Sympatric Bamboo Lemur Species (Genus Hapalemur) in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar", International Journal of Primatology, 20(4) 547-566

Tan, Chia L, 1999b, "Life History and Infant Rearing Strategies of  Three Hapalemur Species", Primate Report, 54-1

Tan, Chia L, 2000, "Patterns of resource use in three sympatric Hapalemur species in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar", American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Supplement 30, 299

Tan, Chia L, in review, "Patterns of resource use in three sympatric Hapalemur species in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar"

Wright, P. C., and Randriamanantena, M. 1989, "Behavioral ecology of three sympatric bamboo lemurs in Madagascar", American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 78: 327

Wright, P. C., et al 1997, "Predation on Milne Edwards Sifaka (Propithecus diadema edwardsi) by the fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) in the rainforest of southeastern Madagascar", Folia Primatologica 68(1) 34-43.

Wright, P.C. 1999 "Lemur traits and Madagascar ecology: coping with an island environment." Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 42: 31-72.

H.a. prepares to jump^P12

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