Abstract
Latrine use (i.e., the repeated use of specific defecation/urination sites) has been described for several mammals, including carnivores, ungulates, and primates. However, the functional significance of latrine use in primates has not been studied systematically yet. We, therefore, followed 14 radio-collared individuals of the pair-living white-footed sportive lemur (Lepilemur leucopus) for 1097 hours of continuous focal observations to investigate latrine distribution, seasonality of latrine use, as well as age and sex of users to test various hypotheses related to possible functions of latrine use, including territory demarcation, resource defense, signaling of reproductive state, social bonding, and mate defense. All individuals of a social unit exhibited communal use of latrines located in the core area of their territory, supporting the social boding hypothesis. Latrine use seems to facilitate familiarity and social bonding within social units via olfactory communication in this primate that lives in family units but exhibits low levels of spatial cohesion and direct social interactions. In addition, frequency of latrine visitation was higher during nights of perceived intruder pressure, supporting the mate defense hypothesis. However, animals did not react to experimentally introduced feces from neighboring or strange social units, indicating that urine may be the more important component of latrines than feces in this arboreal species. Based on a survey of latrine use and function in other mammals, we conclude that latrines facilitate communication particularly in nocturnal species with limited habitat visibility and in species where individuals are not permanently cohesive because they constitute predictable areas for information exchange.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00265-014-1810-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Chemical signals can transmit a variety of information in vertebrates, such as species identity (Caspers et al 2009), sexual identity (Ferkin and Johnston 1995), reproductive state (Ziegler 2013), and individual identity (Linklater et al 2013)
Many chemical signals derive from various excretory products, such as feces, urine, and gland secretions (Eisenberg and Kleiman 1972), and scent marking is defined as the application of these products to features in the environment (Macdonald 1980)
The repeated use of specific locations for defecation/urination can result in an accumulation of feces and other excretory products at so-called latrine sites, and this behavior can be considered a special form of scent marking in cases where it serves a communicatory function (Wronski et al 2013)
Summary
Chemical signals can transmit a variety of information in vertebrates, such as species identity (Caspers et al 2009), sexual identity (Ferkin and Johnston 1995), reproductive state (Ziegler 2013), and individual identity (Linklater et al 2013). Many chemical signals derive from various excretory products, such as feces, urine, and gland secretions (Eisenberg and Kleiman 1972), and scent marking is defined as the application of these products to features in the environment (Macdonald 1980). The repeated use of specific locations for defecation/urination can result in an accumulation of feces and other excretory products at so-called latrine sites, and this behavior can be considered a special form of scent marking in cases where it serves a communicatory function (Wronski et al 2013). Feces are either deposited alone (e.g., Bassariscus astutus: Barja and List 2006; Ourebia ourebi: Brashares and Arcese 1999) or together with urine and/or secretions of specialized glands at latrine sites (e.g., Meles meles: Roper et al 1986; Mazama gouazoubira: Black-Decima and Santana 2011). For arboreal species, one could reasonably expect that any potential communicatory function may be rather related to olfactory signals obtainable from arboreally deposited urine than from terrestrial accumulation of feces, which may rather be a byproduct of localized urine marking
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