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Related Experiment Videos

Sifaka positional behavior: ontogenetic and quantitative genetic approaches.

Richard R Lawler1

  • 1Department of Anthropology, Boston University, Massachusetts 02215, USA. rlawler@bu.edu

American Journal of Physical Anthropology
|April 6, 2006
PubMed
Summary

Young Verreaux's sifakas have proportionally large hands and feet, but their locomotion doesn't differ from adults. Selection favors larger feet in young primates, aiding their movement and substrate use.

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Area of Science:

  • Primate evolutionary biology
  • Developmental biology
  • Functional morphology

Background:

  • Many primate species exhibit negative allometry in extremities during development.
  • Neonatal primates often have disproportionately large hands and feet relative to body weight.
  • This pattern is observed in Verreaux's sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi verreauxi).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the ontogenetic pattern of hand and foot size in Verreaux's sifakas.
  • To test the behavioral implications of relatively large juvenile extremities.
  • To determine the evolutionary pressures acting on limb element size in this species.

Main Methods:

  • Collected morphometric data on a wild population of Verreaux's sifakas.
  • Used locomotor bout sampling to record positional behavior and substrate use.

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  • Estimated heritabilities and selection gradients for limb elements.

    • Main Results:

    • Younger sifakas possess relatively large hands and feet compared to adults.
    • No significant differences in locomotor behaviors or substrate use were found between yearlings and adults.
    • The foot exhibited the lowest heritability (0.16-0.44) but the strongest positive directional selection (gradient = 0.119).

    Conclusions:

    • The negative allometry of extremities in sifakas is maintained by natural selection, not just a primitive developmental pathway.
    • Larger juvenile feet likely facilitate the use of adult-sized substrates, aiding locomotor development.
    • Selection continues to act on foot size in young Verreaux's sifakas.