Coquerel's Sifaka (Propithecus coquereli) Fact Sheet: Behavior & Ecology

Diurnal (active in daylight) (Petter 1962)

Daily activity patterns (from Richard 1974 unless otherwise noted)

• Seasonally variable patterns
  • Wet season activity
    • Initiate activity well before sunrise
    • Feed almost continuously through mid-morning
    • Rest and sleep in trees until mid-afternoon
      • Sit; knees pulled tightly to chest as hindfeet cling to a limb for stability; hands rest on the knees, tail rolled into a spiral between the legs (Mittermeier et al. 2013)
      • Cling vertically; chest pressed against a limb, hand and feet grasping on either side (Mittermeier et al. 2013)
    • May resume feeding and foraging after sunset
    • Sleep in trees
      • Typically "early to bed"; return to sleep before sunset (D Haring personal communication)
  • In dry season
    • Initiate activity 1-2 hours after sunrise; move to stations high in trees where exposed to the sun
    • Bask in sun c.1 hour or more
      • Sit in tree crowns, facing east with upraised arms (Mittermeier et al. 2013)
    • Travel follows "sunning"
    • Feed almost continuously until early afternoon
    • End activity near mid-day; take up positions in the forks of trees to sleep

Daily movement (from Richard 1974; Richard 1978 unless otherwise noted)

• Travel c. 800-1,600 m (0.5-1 mi) per day
  • Interrupted frequently with breaks for feeding
    • Typically pause one of more times before covering 50 m (c. 164 ft)
    • Long distance travel rarely completed as a single uninterrupted stretch; except when in flight
• Seasonal variation in travel distance
  • Cover greater distances in wet season compared to the dry season

Inhabit areas >10 ha (0.4 mi²) (Richard 1978)

• Intensive use of smaller pockets within the broader territory is common

Territorial overlap extensive (Richard 1974)

Density (from Kun-Rodrigues et al. 2014)

• Estimates variable
  • 5-93 individuals/km² (c. 13-241 individuals/mi²) in Ankarafantsika National Park
  • Density and numbers likely declining
    • c. 90% decline in density at Ampijoroa within the past 30 years

Social animals (from Richard 1974 unless otherwise noted)

• Live in small mixed-gender groups (Mittermeier et al. 2013)
  • Composed of mutually familiar individuals
  • Not a reproductive or "family" unit
• Group interactions
  • Infrequent, even though members often move, feed, and rest for extensive periods in close proximity
  • In managed care, individuals interact fairly regularly (D. Haring personal communication)
    • Exchanges typically of low level intensity
    • Members often look around at one another and make quiet grunting noises

Social dominance (from Richard 1974 unless otherwise noted)

• Feeding hierarchy
  • Dominant individuals receive preferential access to food
  • Rank not gender-specific, in the wild
    • In managed care, females are dominant; the oldest breeding female dominates other group members (D Haring personal communication)
• Determinants of rank
  • No apparent relationship between social rank and aggression, social grooming, or access to mates

Group size

• Typically group size
  • c. 2-5 individuals (Kun-Rodrigues et al. 2014)
• Range
  • 3-10 individuals (Richard 1974; Mittermeier et al. 2013)

Seldom confrontational (from Richard 1974 unless otherwise noted)

• Groups often avoid one another
• Fights
  • Not associated with territorial borders
• Territoriality in managed care (from D. Haring personal communication)
  • Groups housed in adjacent enclosures are watchful of one another when in close proximity
  • Dominant females may hop up-and-down and chase one another along the fenceline

Territorial travel (from Richard 1974; Richard 1978)

• Visits to territorial regions
  • Cover most regions within territory every 10-20 days
  • No regular cycle of movement through territory

Aggression

• Minimal outside mating season (Richard 1974)
  • Most frequently associated with access to food
  • Aggressive acts by mothers in defense of young are common
    • Attempts to handle an infant often met with slaps and bites from the mother
• Physical contact uncommon (Petter 1962)
  • Injuries common on the ears of males > 2 years of age
• Threaten (Richard and Heimbuch 1975)
  • Submissive recipients of threats often display characteristic behaviors and are displaced
    • Bare teeth, lips tightly drawn back
    • Tuck tail between hind legs, back hunched
• Bite (Richard and Heimbuch 1975)
  • Neck scruff and tail often receive hard, painful bites
• Hit/cuff (Richard and Heimbuch 1975)
  • Hands strike opponents on the back of the neck or limb extremities
  • "Cough" or "hack" vocalization often accompanies strikes

Affiliative behaviors (from Richard and Heimbuch 1975 unless otherwise noted)

• Allo-grooming (one individual grooms another)
  • Common activity among group members
    • Not typically mutual; only 30% of allo-grooming was reciprocal in one study
    • Occurs most often during periods of rest
  • Groom arms, head, face, back, and shoulders; typically those areas inaccessible for self-grooming
    • Lick and comb hair (with toothcomb)
    • Groomer often clamps hands over the muzzle of the recipient when cleaning the head
  • Requests for grooming characterized by "presenting" behavior
    • Arm held toward the prospective groomer
• Huddle to sleep on cold nights (Richard 1974)
  • Members line up, single-file along a branch, and cuddle the animal in front of them (D Haring personal communication)
    • Reminiscent of people on a toboggan
• Nose-touching
  • Form of social greeting, uncommonly observed (Richard and Heimbuch 1975)
  • Individuals approach one another and briefly touch noses together before moving apart (Richard and Heimbuch 1975)

Play (from Richard and Heimbuch 1975)

• Participants
  • Most frequently subadults and juveniles
  • Adult occasionally join play of younger group members
• Location and timing of play
  • Most frequently on or near the ground (within 2 m or 6.6 ft)
    • c. 27% of all bouts take place in trees at heights above 2 m
  • Common activity during the wet season; not observed in the dry season, one study
  • Initiated at the beginning and end or feeding and rest periods
• Forms of play
  • Wrestle
    • 2-3 individuals hang from a horizontal support; often by their arms or legs alone
    • Opponents attempt to dislodge one another
  • Chase
    • On the ground after wrestling
    • Often culminates with the loser lying on his back; the winner repeatedly jumping onto him

Vocalization (from Mittermeier et al. 2013, unless otherwise noted)

• Limited vocal repertoire
• Alarm calls
  • "Shi-fakh, shi-fakh, shi-fakh"; loud, penetrating, nasal call
    • Explosive, hiss-like sound
    • Entire group simultaneously emits call
    • Often accompanies head jerking
      • Head rapidly jerked backward and forward, several times in succession
  • "Hum" and "mum"
    • Most frequent vocalization
    • Low-amplitude, low-frequency, and tonal
  • Aerial roar
    • Open-mouthed, broadband call
    • Directed overhead to raptors or other aerial disturbances

Olfaction/Scent Marking (from Mittermeier et al. 2013, unless otherwise noted)

• Anogenital gland secretions
  • Spray onto tree trunks
    • Sometimes followed by urination
  • Rhythmically rub the anogenital glands against tree trunks
• Gender specific behavior
  • Males
    • Rub the neck and chest on tree trunks (Petter 1962)
    • Often gouge trees with teeth prior to marking (Petter 1962)
    • Increase marking frequency during the mating season (Richard 1974)

Leap (from Demes et al. 1996; Mittermeier et al. 2013, unless otherwise noted)

• Through trees
  • Bound from trunk to trunk (Petter 1962)
• Take off with back facing destination
  • Body held upright throughout the jump (Petter 1962)
  • Look over the shoulder at the landing-tree
  • Legs propel movement upward and outward (Mittermeier et al. 2010)
    • Jump 10-12 m (33-39 ft) across open spans in the forest (Demes et al. 1996; Mittermeier et al. 2013; Napier and Walker 1967)
• Land facing forward
  • Turn 180^o, in mid-air, shortly after launch
    • Forearms and tail adjust position through the air
  • Hindlimbs first, toes grasping for support

Hop and bound (from Petter 1962 unless otherwise noted)

• Bipedally on the ground (Mittermeier et al. 2010; Petter 1962)
  • Cover several meters in each hop (> 10 ft) (Mittermeier et al. 2013)
  • Uncommon form of travel; accounts for < 2 % of activity (Richard 1974)
• Body remains vertical
  • Forward faced position (Mittermeier et al. 2010)
  • Elevate arms, hands near shoulder height

Climb (from Mittermeier et al. 2013 unless otherwise noted)

• Slowly scale vertical trunks
  • Hand-over-hand movement
• Awkwardly descend, tail first
  • Tail not used for balance in descent (Petter 1962)

Mixed gender groups associate throughout the day and night.

Numbers range from 3 to 10 individuals.

Image credit: © F. Vassen from Flickr. Some rights reserved.

Sifakas do not walk; instead, they hop along the forest floor.

Powerful legs are capable of propelling an individual over 10 feet in a single bound.

Image credit: © C. Sharp from Flickr. Some rights reserved.

© San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. All rights reserved.

Demes et al. (1996)
Kun-Rodrigues et al. (2014)
Mittermeier et al. (2010)
Mittermeier et al. (2013)
Napier and Walker (1967)
Petter (1962)
Richard (1974)
Richard (1978)
Richard and Heimbuch (1975)