Seasonal adaptations in energy budgeting in the primate Lepilemur leucopus.

Abstract

The spiny forest of South Madagascar is one of the driest and most unpredictable habitats in Africa. The small-bodied, nocturnal primate Lepilemur leucopus lives in this harsh habitat with high diurnal and seasonal changes in ambient temperature. In this study, we investigated seasonal adaptions in energy budgeting of L. leucopus, which allow it to live under these conditions by measuring resting metabolic rate using open-flow respirometry. No signs of heterothermy were detected, and resting metabolic rate was significantly lower in the warmer wet season than in the colder dry season. In fact, L. leucopus possesses one of the lowest mass-specific metabolic rates measured so far for an endotherm, probably the result of adaptations to its habitat and folivorous and potentially toxic diet. Surprisingly, we identified a shift of the thermoneutral zone from between 25 and 30 °C in the wet season to between 29 and 32 °C in the cool dry season. L. leucopus seems to be more affected by the hot daytime temperatures during the dry season and thermoregulation seems to be more costly during this time, which makes this shift of the thermoneutral zone advantageous. Our findings suggest that L. leucopus has a very small scope to unfavorable conditions, making it highly vulnerable, e.g., to changing conditions due to climate change.