Milne-Edwards' sportive lemur (Lepilemur edwardsi), or Milne-Edwards' weasel lemur, is a species of lemur in the family Lepilemuridae. It is endemic to Madagascar. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. An enormous problem for these animals is the limited resource of safe sleeping sites. These are essential for their survival since they provide shelter from predators and weather conditions.
Habitat Milne-Edwards' sportive lemurs occupy the northern-eastern region of Madagascar, and is commonly known to live in the National Park of Akanrafantsika, but can be found in the Mariarano Classified Forest. They are arboreal and terrestrial, mainly prioritizing broadleaves trees in equatorial climate. They are also establishing their habitat over one hectare of forest. The habitat undergoes important changes in vegetation, temperature, and climate between the rainy and dry seasons. Deforestation in Madagascar rises to nearly 1% per year on the entire territory. Conservation efforts of Madagascar have been under work since the 1980s, with aid from countries such as the US and France, aiding with funds and management. This aid includes developing strategies for conservation as well as the development of sustainable agriculture to help the population. There is currently a shift in forest density in Madagascar from the coast to the inland parts of the island, meaning species that live within the coastal area, including the Milne-Edward sportive lemurs that occupy the north-west part of the island, will be affected by this shift.
Behaviour
Reproduction Milne-Edward's sportive lemurs are seasonal breeders, where males and females are ready to mate during the months of May to July, and stop from August to December. Studies show that their main breeding season only last two months per year on average. As mammals, females hold a gestation period of about four to five months, and typically give birth around October. Giving birth during the rainy time of the year is optimal for the female Milne-Edward's sportive lemur, because it will allow them to produce lactation during the seasonal bounties of their habitats. Annually, females only breed a single offspring, contributing to population decline since they are opposed to anthropogenic degradation.
Diet This species of sportive lemur is entirely folivorous. They tend be in competition for food resources with other species from the areas, therefore second-class leaves are often their only available form of sustenance. Observation shows that Milne-Edwards' sportive lemur generally travels in groups of two to five individuals during the night to feed on the same trees as a group, without showing signs of aggressiveness. Studies have also found that their distribution and group size are intrinsically linked to availability of food resources, hence males and females compete for food together, but they find more benefits in defending the scarce resources as pairs even though feeding two mouths is more difficult than feeding one.
Social system They mainly form dispersed pairs and live in groups, showing signs of polyandrous social organization. Sportive lemurs males tend to have smaller testicular size, as they generally breed and engage in cohesive pairs. However, the male Milne-Edwards' show to have bigger testicular volume size compared to the average measurements of sportive lemurs during the breeding time of the year. Hence, this statistic coincides with the sperm competition theory, since a bigger volume in testes might increase chances of reproduction among a community living under an extra-pair copulation social organization. Nonetheless, Milne-Edwards' sportive lemurs practice duetting, which is uncommon for extra-pair copulation species, meaning that they are actually involved in bounded pairs for taking care of the offspring. Studies also found that bounded pairs share a common sleeping and feeding sites during gestation. This shows that these lemurs must compete for reproduction during the breeding season, but when the females give birth, lemurs actually form pair-partners relationships for the purpose of taking care of the youngster. Males and females engage equally in duetting behaviour; no particular sex difference as of who is starting the calls and who is deciding the order, course, or route of the locomotion, prompting some observers to suggest that they live in an equal society where no gender is dominating the other. A 2024 study, however, found evidence of female dominance in the species. Other than the fact that duetting is commonly used for territorial defense, Milne-Edwards' sportive lemurs do not produce any sort of territorial markings than its callings. The males' glands do no secrete a form of liquid for scent marking, and they are not known to urinate on their lands to prevent predation. However, some preliminary researches have observed these lemurs bite the tree trunks of their sleeping sites; perhaps it is a way for them to recognize their sleeping sites among the community, or it might even be a small means of asserting their territory. In short, the bounded-pairs are joining their forces together to defend the sleeping sites, especially during offspring care, but when it is the breeding season they tend to compete for reproduction as pairs are not formed yet.
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