Territory exclusivity and intergroup encounters in the indris (Mammalia: Primates: Indridae: Indri indri) upon methodological tuning
Territorial, socially monogamous species actively defend their home range against conspecifics to maintain exclusive access to resources such as food or mates. Primates use scent marks and loud calls to signal territory occupancy and limit the risk of intergroup encounters, maximizing their energeti...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2017-01-01
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| Series: | The European Zoological Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2017.1318184 |
| _version_ | 1818540987714109440 |
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| author | G. Bonadonna V. Torti V. Sorrentino R. M. Randrianarison M. Zaccagno M. Gamba C. L. Tan C. Giacoma |
| author_facet | G. Bonadonna V. Torti V. Sorrentino R. M. Randrianarison M. Zaccagno M. Gamba C. L. Tan C. Giacoma |
| author_sort | G. Bonadonna |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Territorial, socially monogamous species actively defend their home range against conspecifics to maintain exclusive access to resources such as food or mates. Primates use scent marks and loud calls to signal territory occupancy and limit the risk of intergroup encounters, maximizing their energetic balance. Indri indri is a little-studied territorial, socially monogamous singing primate living in family groups. The groups announce territory occupancy with long-distance calls, and actively defend their territories from conspecific intruders. This work includes data collected in three forests in Madagascar on 16 indri groups over up to 5 years. We aimed (1) to estimate the extent of territories using minimum convex polygon (MCP), implementing minimum sampling effort requirements; (2) to quantify territorial exclusivity, measuring the overlap between territories; and (3) to evaluate the intergroup encounter rate and to quantify the dynamics of group encounters. Our results showed that indris range evenly within exclusive small territories with no or little overlap. Intergroup encounters are rare (0.05 encounters per day), and are located on the periphery of the territories. Disputes were mostly solved with vocal confrontation and only in 13% of the cases ended in physical fights. This frame underlines a cost–benefit explanation of territoriality, favouring a strategy that efficiently limits overlap and avoids costly intergroup encounters. We hypothesize that territorial behaviour in indri is related to mate-guarding strategy and that vocal behaviour plays a fundamental role in regulating intergroup spacing dynamics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T22:02:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dfa648a1204446fba809c4bff4d978fc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2475-0263 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T22:02:38Z |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The European Zoological Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-dfa648a1204446fba809c4bff4d978fc2022-12-22T00:49:03ZengTaylor & Francis GroupThe European Zoological Journal2475-02632017-01-0184123825110.1080/24750263.2017.13181841318184Territory exclusivity and intergroup encounters in the indris (Mammalia: Primates: Indridae: Indri indri) upon methodological tuningG. Bonadonna0V. Torti1V. Sorrentino2R. M. Randrianarison3M. Zaccagno4M. Gamba5C. L. Tan6C. Giacoma7University of TorinoUniversity of TorinoUniversity of TorinoGERP (Group d’Étude et de Recherche sur les Primates de Madagascar)University of TorinoUniversity of TorinoSan Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation ResearchUniversity of TorinoTerritorial, socially monogamous species actively defend their home range against conspecifics to maintain exclusive access to resources such as food or mates. Primates use scent marks and loud calls to signal territory occupancy and limit the risk of intergroup encounters, maximizing their energetic balance. Indri indri is a little-studied territorial, socially monogamous singing primate living in family groups. The groups announce territory occupancy with long-distance calls, and actively defend their territories from conspecific intruders. This work includes data collected in three forests in Madagascar on 16 indri groups over up to 5 years. We aimed (1) to estimate the extent of territories using minimum convex polygon (MCP), implementing minimum sampling effort requirements; (2) to quantify territorial exclusivity, measuring the overlap between territories; and (3) to evaluate the intergroup encounter rate and to quantify the dynamics of group encounters. Our results showed that indris range evenly within exclusive small territories with no or little overlap. Intergroup encounters are rare (0.05 encounters per day), and are located on the periphery of the territories. Disputes were mostly solved with vocal confrontation and only in 13% of the cases ended in physical fights. This frame underlines a cost–benefit explanation of territoriality, favouring a strategy that efficiently limits overlap and avoids costly intergroup encounters. We hypothesize that territorial behaviour in indri is related to mate-guarding strategy and that vocal behaviour plays a fundamental role in regulating intergroup spacing dynamics.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2017.1318184Sampling effortMCPterritoryintergroup encountersoverlap |
| spellingShingle | G. Bonadonna V. Torti V. Sorrentino R. M. Randrianarison M. Zaccagno M. Gamba C. L. Tan C. Giacoma Territory exclusivity and intergroup encounters in the indris (Mammalia: Primates: Indridae: Indri indri) upon methodological tuning The European Zoological Journal Sampling effort MCP territory intergroup encounters overlap |
| title | Territory exclusivity and intergroup encounters in the indris (Mammalia: Primates: Indridae: Indri indri) upon methodological tuning |
| title_full | Territory exclusivity and intergroup encounters in the indris (Mammalia: Primates: Indridae: Indri indri) upon methodological tuning |
| title_fullStr | Territory exclusivity and intergroup encounters in the indris (Mammalia: Primates: Indridae: Indri indri) upon methodological tuning |
| title_full_unstemmed | Territory exclusivity and intergroup encounters in the indris (Mammalia: Primates: Indridae: Indri indri) upon methodological tuning |
| title_short | Territory exclusivity and intergroup encounters in the indris (Mammalia: Primates: Indridae: Indri indri) upon methodological tuning |
| title_sort | territory exclusivity and intergroup encounters in the indris mammalia primates indridae indri indri upon methodological tuning |
| topic | Sampling effort MCP territory intergroup encounters overlap |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2017.1318184 |
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