Pereira Michael E, Izard M Kay
Duke University Primate Center, Durham, North Carolina.
Am J Primatol. 1989;18(2):101-108. doi: 10.1002/ajp.1350180204.
An adult female ringtailed lemur (Lemur catta) known not to have been pregnant showed spontaneous lactation in response to twin infants born to an unrelated female. The females had met only 7 months earlier, when they and two other unrelated adult females were released from separate locations in a forest enclosure to form a new social group. Three months after release, an adult male from an adjacent enclosure gained access to the new group for 1 day, the day of one female's estrus. No males had access to the females throughout the remainder of the breeding season. Within 2 weeks of the birth of the twins, one of the other adult females began carrying the infants frequently, typically one at a time. All three females were checked for lactation when the infants were two months old. Both their mother and the unrelated adult who had been carrying the infants were producing milk. The third adult female, who never carried either infant, had no milk. The third adult female, who never carried either infant, had no milk. This female, however, like the two maternal females, frequently attacked unfamiliar immigrating adult males when the males approached the infants. Potential implications of these observations concerning the social organization of ringtailed lemurs are discussed.
一只已知未怀孕的成年雌性环尾狐猴（Lemur catta），对一只 unrelated 雌性所生的双胞胎幼崽产生了自发泌乳现象。这两只雌性在仅7个月前才相遇，当时它们和另外两只 unrelated 成年雌性从森林围栏的不同地点被放出来，组成了一个新的社会群体。放出来三个月后，一只来自相邻围栏的成年雄性在其中一只雌性发情的那天进入新群体一天。在繁殖季节的其余时间里，没有雄性能够接触到这些雌性。双胞胎出生后两周内，另一只成年雌性开始频繁抱起幼崽，通常一次抱一只。当幼崽两个月大时，对所有三只雌性进行了泌乳检查。幼崽的母亲和一直抱着幼崽的 unrelated 成年雌性都分泌了乳汁。第三只成年雌性从未抱过任何一只幼崽，没有乳汁分泌。然而，这只第三只成年雌性，和两只充当母亲角色的雌性一样，当陌生的成年雄性接近幼崽时，它经常攻击它们。文中讨论了这些观察结果对环尾狐猴社会组织的潜在影响。
