Red-ruffed Lemur (Varecia rubra) Fact Sheet: Reproduction & Development

Polygamous (from Vasey 1997)

• Males and females take multiple partners
  • May mate with more than one partner in a single mating season

Copulation (from Vasey 2007 unless otherwise noted)

• Soliciting a partner
  • Males solicit more often than females
    • Various combinations of stereotypical male behaviors
      • Lower and extend the head and nose
        • Ears often flattened (Brockman et al. 1987)
      • “Squeal approach”
        • Submissively advance toward a female in a quivering crawl
        • Often emit a roar-shriek chorus; along with the female
      • May brush past the female’s body, sniffing and licking her genitals
        • Male suspends himself beneath the female and chatters submissively
      • Mount and thrust at female
      • Scent mark branches on which a female recently sat
        • Rub the chest, mandible, head, and/or ano-genital region onto substrates
    • Female response includes variable combinations of stereotyped behaviors
      • Vocalize, producing a roar-shriek chorus with the male
      • Positioning the body to allow mounting by the male
      • Aggressively strike at or bite at the male
      • Lick own genitals
• Pairing time
  • May last for extended periods
    • Together for 2-9.5 hours, one study population
  • Couplings between core group members may last longer than those between members of separate core groups

Seasonal reproduction (from Vasey 2006)

• Mating
  • Early July, in the wild
• Gestation
  • Typically July-October
• Lactation
  • Typically November-February

Estrus cycle, captive notes (from Brockman et al. 1987; Foerg 1982)

• Timing
  • Experience up to 3 cycles during the breeding season
    • Cycle intervals of 40-42 days
    • Conception typically occurs during the first cycle
• Cycle duration
  • 8-22 days; average of 14.6
• Indications of estrus
  • Physical changes in vaginal morphology reflect reproductive condition
    • Anestrous
      • Vulva completely black, imperforate, and somewhat inverted
    • Immediately prior to estrus
      • Vulvus becomes swollen
    • Onset of estrus
      • Vulvar slit begins to separate
        • Forms a visible pink line
        • Occasionally a small (2-4 cm), pink, circular opening is visible
    • Mid-cycle
      • Pink separation enlarges and everts; forming a dark pink, oval opening
    • Late-cycle
      • Vulva begins to shrink
      • Pink coloration fades
  • Behavioral changes
    • Increase in anogenital scent marking
    • More solicitous of the male and receptive to his mounting attempts
      • Non-receptive females lunge at the male and chase him away
      • Receptive females approach the male and slap or beat his head with her hands

Nests (from Vasey 2007)

• Function
  • Site of birth
  • Provides safety for infants while mother is way foraging
    • Infants remain within the nest for c. 2 weeks
    • Left alone for periods of 46-90 minutes a few times each day
    • Guarded by other members of the mother’s core group while she is away
• Structure
  • Shallow, dish-shaped construction
  • Entwined branches, dense foliage, and/or lianas
• Location
  • Placed 15-25 m above the ground
  • Situated within each mother’s core area

Birth rate (from Vasey 2003)

• Average birth rate: 0.86/year

Cooperative or communal infant care (from Vasey 1997)

• See Infant Care, below

Gestation

• 99-106 days, 102 days average; captive records (Brockman et al. 1987; Whipple 2014a)
  • Shortest of all species within the family Lemuridae (Vasey 2007)

Birth

• Location and timing
  • Deliver within the nest (Brockman et al. 1987; Vasey 2007)
  • Parturition typically at night, captive observation (Brockman et al. 1987)
    • 20:00-04:00
    • Rarely deliver in daylight
• Dam’s (mother’s) behavior (from Brockman et al. 1987)
  • Female assumes a hunched posture, with legs extended
  • Continually licks to clean the vaginal opening
    • Leaving minimal evidence of birth, other than the presence of a wet neonate
• Infant characteristics (from Vasey 2003)
  • Weight at birth
    • c. 98 g (0.2 lb)
  • Click here to view Red Ruffed Lemur Babies by Zoo TV Series, Dublin Zoo

Interbirth interval

• c. 1 year between consecutive births (Vasey 2003)

Litter size

• 1-6 (Eddie et al. 2015; Vasey 2003)
  • Commonly 2-3
  • In managed care, c. 37% twins, c. 30% triplets (Eddie et al. 2015)

Infants

• Care (from Vasey 2007 unless otherwise noted)
  • Infant stashing
    • Infants remain within nests or other concealed arboreal spots while mother travel distantly
      • Mother transports infants (one at a time) within her mouth
        • Infant’s belly held (transversely) within her jaws
      • Non-siblings often stashed together by their separate mothers
  • Alloparenting
    • All age-sex classes assist in the care of infants
      • Males and females coordinate vigilant activity to guard stashed infants (Vasey 1997)
      • Communal nursing, lactating females nurse one another’s offspring (Vasey 1997; Vasey 2007)
    • Evidence for infant adoption (Vasey 1997; Vasey 2007)
• Development (from Vasey 2007 unless otherwise noted)
  • Ingest solid food at 40-50 days (Vasey 2003)
    • Eat young leaves and fruit
    • Weaned c. 3-4 months
      • May suckle for another 2 months (Vasey 2003)
  • Locomotor skills fully develop by 70 days (Vasey 2003)
    • Locomotor play common by 6 weeks
      • Walk, leap, climb, and hang suspended
    • Follow older animals through the tree crown
      • Mother continues to transport young in her mouth to move across large gaps
      • May cling to mother’s head, neck, or belly
  • Grow rapidly
    • 70% of adult weight c.4 months of age (Vasey 2003)
      • Becomes difficult to distinguish juveniles from adults

Adults (from Eddie et al. 2015 unless otherwise noted)

• Age at sexual maturity
  • Males, in managed care
    • 2 years
    • Fecundity peaks c. 6 years of age
  • Females, in managed care
    • 1 year
      • Estrus cycling begins as early as 9 months (Brockman et al. 1987)
    • Fecundity peaks c. 6 years of age
• Reproductive senescence
  • Males
    • Reproduction declines gradually after 6 years of age
    • No records of reproduction after 30 years of age
      • May be able to reproduce through the end of life
  • Females
    • Reproduction declines after 6 years of age
      • Downturn more pronounced than that of males
    • Minimal reproduction after 23 years of age
      • Oldest dam (mother) nearly 30 years of age

Wild populations

• Not reported

Managed care

• Median life expectancy
  • 19.9 years (AZA 2023)

Infant red-ruffed lemur.

Image credit: © Mulhouseville at Wikimedia Commons. Some rights reserved.

Young red-ruffed lemur. ZOOM Erlebniswelt, Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

Image credit: © Silke at Flickr. Some rights reserved.