Fontani Sara, Kaburu Stefano S K, Marliani Giovanna, Accorsi Pier Attilio, Vaglio Stefano
Animal Behaviour and Wildlife Conservation Group, School of Sciences, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom.
Animal Behaviour and Wildlife Conservation Group, School of Medicine, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom.
Front Vet Sci. 2022 Jul 28;9:940707. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.940707. eCollection 2022.
The Lake Alaotra gentle lemur () is one of the 25 most endangered primates in the world and shows low success rate in captive breeding programmes. It is therefore vital to further understand its reproductive biology. We studied a captive troop consisting of five individuals hosted at Jersey Zoo during breeding and non-breeding periods over 1 year. We collected behavioural data ( = 318 h) using all occurrence of some behaviours and sampling methods, as well as faecal ( = 54) and anogenital scent ( = 35) samples of the breeding female. We measured sex hormone levels using enzyme immunoassay technique and investigated the volatile component of odour signals using solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. We observed sexual and aggressive behaviours occasionally during the breeding period. Our regression analysis showed that only period significantly predicted rates of female anogenital scent-marking, whereby the female performed anogenital scent-marking more frequently during the breeding rather than the non-breeding period. In contrast, female hormone levels did not significantly explain variation in rates of neither male nor female olfactory, sexual and affiliative behaviours, suggesting that individuals' behaviour alone is not an effective indicator of the ovulation window. The volatile chemical profile of anogenital odour secretions changed over the study, with four compounds distinguishing the fertile window during the breeding period. In conclusion, our findings suggest that anogenital scent-marking may signal the reproductive status of captive female gentle lemurs.
阿劳特拉湖驯狐猴（ ）是世界上25种最濒危的灵长类动物之一，在圈养繁殖项目中的成功率较低。因此，进一步了解其生殖生物学至关重要。我们研究了一个由五只个体组成的圈养群体，它们在泽西动物园生活了1年，涵盖繁殖期和非繁殖期。我们使用某些行为的全出现记录和抽样方法收集行为数据（ = 318小时），以及繁殖雌性的粪便样本（ = 54）和肛门生殖器气味样本（ = 35）。我们使用酶免疫测定技术测量性激素水平，并使用固相微萃取和气相色谱 - 质谱联用技术研究气味信号的挥发性成分。我们在繁殖期偶尔观察到性行为和攻击行为。我们的回归分析表明，只有时期能显著预测雌性肛门生殖器气味标记的频率，即雌性在繁殖期比非繁殖期更频繁地进行肛门生殖器气味标记。相比之下，雌性激素水平并不能显著解释雄性和雌性嗅觉、性行为和亲和行为频率的变化，这表明仅个体行为并不是排卵窗口的有效指标。在研究过程中，肛门生殖器气味分泌物的挥发性化学特征发生了变化，有四种化合物在繁殖期区分出了可育窗口。总之，我们的研究结果表明，肛门生殖器气味标记可能标志着圈养雌性驯狐猴的生殖状态。
