Lemurs match scent of a friend to sound of her voice. Duke Today, April 15, 2014. Humans aren’t alone in their ability to match a voice to a face — animals such as dogs, horses, crows and monkeys are able to recognize familiar individuals this way too, a growing body of research shows. A new study finds that some animals can even match a voice to a scent. Researchers report that ring-tailed lemurs respond more strongly to the scents and sounds of female lemurs when the scent they smell and the voice they hear belong to the same female — even when she’s nowhere in sight. Picked up by the National Science Foundation and Natural History magazine (June 2014 issue).
Category Archives: lemurs
Providing emergency aid to injured primates
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Providing emergency aid to injured primates. Duke Lemur Center blog. April 14, 2014. On the evening of March 15, 2014, in the rainforests of eastern Madagascar, a veterinary team from the Duke Lemur Center made an unusual house call. Their patient was a female aye-aye — one of five of the rare primates rescued from a remote village after being illegally taken from the wild.
Lemur lovers sync their scents
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Lemur lovers sync their scents. Duke Today, January 31, 2014. The strength of a lemur couple’s bond is reflected by the similarity of their scents, finds a new study. Picked up by Popular Science, the UK Daily Mail, National Geographic, Discovery Channel and WUNC.
Lemur babies of older moms are less likely to get hurt
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Lemur babies of older moms are less likely to get hurt. Duke Today, December 18, 2013. A long-term study of aggression in lemurs finds that infants born to older mothers are less likely to get hurt than those born to younger mothers. The researchers base their findings on an analysis of detailed medical records for more than 240 ring-tailed lemurs — cat-sized primates with long black-and-white banded tails — that were monitored daily from infancy to adulthood over a 35-year period at the Duke Lemur Center in North Carolina. It may be that older moms are better at fending off attackers or protecting their infants during fights, the researchers say.
Lemurs’ neck bling tracks siestas, insomnia
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Lemurs’ neck bling tracks siestas, insomnia. Duke Research Blog, November 5, 2013. The fancy neck charm this lemur is wearing is no fashion accessory. Weighing in at just under an ounce, it’s a battery-powered data logger that measures light exposure and activity levels continuously over many days. Researchers outfitted twenty lemurs at the Duke Lemur Center with the special gadgets to study the animals’ daily ups and downs. The results could help researchers understand the sleep disturbances common among people with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia, and whether light therapy could help reset their internal clock for a more solid night’s sleep.
Hibernating lemurs hint at the secrets of sleep
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Hibernating lemurs hint at the secrets of sleep. Duke Today, September 4, 2013. By studying hibernation, a Duke University team is providing a window into why humans sleep. Observations of a little-known primate called the fat-tailed dwarf lemur in captivity and the wild has revealed that it goes for days without the deepest part of sleep during its winter hibernation season. The findings support the idea that sleep plays a role in regulating body temperature and metabolism. Picked up by WUNC, National Geographic, NBC News, US News and World Report, Huffington Post, Futurity, Discovery News and the Los Angeles Times.
Personality test finds some mouse lemurs shy, others bold
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Personality test finds some mouse lemurs shy, others bold. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center. June 18, 2013. Anyone who has ever owned a pet will tell you that it has a unique personality. Yet only in the last 10 years has the study of animal personality started to gain ground with scientists. Now researchers have found distinct personalities in the grey mouse lemur, the tiny, saucer-eyed primate native to the African island of Madagascar. Picked up by Futurity, Audubon Magazine and National Geographic Magazine.
Primate hibernation more common than previously thought
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Primate hibernation more common than previously thought. Duke Today, May 2, 2013. Until recently, the only primate known to hibernate as a survival strategy was a creature called the western fat-tailed dwarf lemur, a tropical tree-dweller from the African island of Madagascar. But it turns out this hibernating lemur isn’t alone. In a new study, researchers report that two other little-known lemurs — Crossley’s dwarf lemur and Sibree’s dwarf lemur — burrow into the soft, spongy rainforest floor in the eastern part of Madagascar, curl up and spend the next three to seven months snoozing underground. Picked up by Futurity, New Scientist and Nature World News.
DNA says lemur lookalikes are two new species
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DNA says lemur lookalikes are two new species. Duke University Lemur Center. March 26, 2013. Scientists have identified two new species of mouse lemur, the saucer-eyed, teacup-sized primates native to the African island of Madagascar. The new study brings the number of recognized mouse lemur species to 20, making them the most diverse group of lemurs known. Picked up by Science Magazine, Scientific American, Futurity, the Duke Chronicle and NBC News.