Social organization of free‐ranging ruffed lemurs, Varecia variegata variegata: mother‐adult daughter relationship

Abstract

The relationship between a mother and an adult daughter is examined in a group of free‐ranging ruffed lemurs (Varecia variegata) at the Duke University Primate Center (DUPC). Although the two females were affiliative during the birth season, interactions during the mating season were predominantly agonistic. The maturing daughter was dominant to the mother, as has been observed in many caged social groups at the DUPC. Although both mother and daughter produced offspring in the same group, the daughter subsequently aggressively evicted the mother from the enclosure. It was not possible to maintain more than one long‐term resident breeding female in the same social group. This pattern contrasts with observations of affiliation among breeding females in the wild. © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. Copyright © 1992 Wiley‐Liss, Inc., A Wiley Company