These ring-tailed lemurs raise a 'stink' when they flirt with potential mates

November 17, 2017 by Don Campbell

A U of T Scarborough study finds that a unique ritual performed by male ring-tailed lemurs may come at a significant physical cost, but it could help their chances in securing a mate.

"Stink-flirting displays are done more often by dominant males," says Amber Walker-Bolton, lead author and instructor in U of T Scarborough's Department of Anthropology.

"This behaviour is also very costly because these males are met with higher levels of aggression than if they were to do other types of scent-marking, so there's definitely something unique about this type of behaviour."

Ring-tailed lemurs are Strepsirrhinines, a sub-order of primates who share a common ancestor with humans. They are very social animals, living in large groups with females dominating the group. Like other lemurs, they huddle in large groups in order to keep warm and maintain social bonds, with lower ranking males often excluded.

Scent is also incredibly important to ring-tailed lemurs. Males use their scent glands to mark territory and often engage in so-called 'stink-fighting' displays where they rub their tails in their scent before wafting it at an opponent.

While stink-fighting is well known, stink-flirting, where males do scent-wafting displays towards a potential female mate, is less understood. This study is the first to look at these displays and their role in terms of male rank and female mate choice.

"One morning I was watching a huddle and saw an outsider male approach and try to waft his tail to a female. Well, right away he was met with all this aggression from the group, and it made me question why they would go through this just to be met with a negative result," says Walker-Bolton, who did her field research at the Berenty Reserve in Madagascar.

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