Comfort Behavior of Black-and-White (Varecia variegata variegata) and Red (Varecia variegata rubra) Ruffed Lemurs (Primates, Lemuridae)

Abstract

Abstract—Knowledge of grooming makes it possible to characterize the intragroup social connections of lemurs and accurately form groups in captivity. The results of this study showed that there are no significant differences in grooming between the black-and-white and red ruffed lemurs: in both subspecies, allogrooming is associated with a certain time of day to a lesser extent than autogrooming. In allogrooming, both subspecies of lemurs clean mainly those parts of the body that are difficult to reach for self-cleaning. An asymmetry in the distribution of allogrooming was revealed: a negative correlation between the age and frequency of the initiated mutual cleaning, predominance of grooming in male–female dyads and between related animals. Allogrooming in ruffed lemurs has three main contexts: the maintenance and establishment of social ties, pacification and buffer of aggression, and restoration of disturbed relations between social partners.