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Infanticide and partial cannibalism in free-ranging Coquerel’s sifaka (Propithecus coquereli)

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Abstract

Infanticide has been observed across many primate taxa, but the extent of its occurrence is not fully understood due to difficulty in observation and uneven reporting. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain why infanticide occurs in primates and whether it benefits some individuals within a social group. Here we report on a case of infanticide, followed by partial consumption of the infant, in a population of Coquerel’s sifaka (Propithecus coquereli) at Mariarano, Northwest Madagascar. We witnessed an adult male sifaka kill and consume part of an infant, a member of his own social group, as well as the mother’s reaction to the infanticide. Following the infanticide, the mother of the deceased infant left the social group after repeated agonistic encounters with the other group members. We evaluate how this event relates to the predictions of four common hypotheses. Further research on Coquerel’s sifaka is needed to determine the frequency of infanticide in this species, and in lemurs more generally, because infanticide is currently poorly understood in this taxon.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Eleanor Field, Heather Gilbert, Sarah Hayes, and all the staff of Operation Wallacea Madagascar, Development and Biodiversity Conservation Action for Madagascar, and the Vondron’Olona Ifotony Mariarano for logistical support. Miarisoa Ramilison, Onja Razafindramasy, Devon Block-Funkhouser, and Richmond Aririguzoh provided assistance in data collection.

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  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Malcolm S. Ramsay & Samantha M. Stead

  2. Department of Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Benjamin Morrison

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  1. Malcolm S. Ramsay
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Correspondence to Malcolm S. Ramsay.

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10329_2020_828_MOESM1_ESM.jpg

Supplementary Figure 1. Infant sifaka retrieved after the mother had left. Injuries can be seen on various points of the body and were all inflicted by the infanticidal male (JPG 8957 kb)

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Ramsay, M.S., Morrison, B. & Stead, S.M. Infanticide and partial cannibalism in free-ranging Coquerel’s sifaka (Propithecus coquereli). Primates 61, 575–581 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10329-020-00828-z

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