Ecological flexibility and conservation of Fleurette's sportive lemur, Lepilemur fleuretae, in the lowland rainforest of Ampasy, Tsitongambarika Protected Area

....................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... iii Table of contents ........................................................................................................ vii List of figures ............................................................................................................. xii List of tables .............................................................................................................. xiv List of abbreviations ................................................................................................... xv 1. General introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Ecological flexibility in primates ...................................................................... 1 1.2. Energy saving strategies in primates ................................................................. 3 1.3. The sportive lemurs (Lepilemur spp.) ............................................................... 5 1.4. Aims of the study ............................................................................................. 11 2. General methods.............................................................................................................. 15 2.1. Study site ......................................................................................................... 15 2.2. Context ............................................................................................................ 17 2.3. Abiotic variables in the study area .................................................................. 21 2.2. Study animals .................................................................................................. 22 2.3. Ethics statement ............................................................................................... 26 3. Phenology of the lowland rainforest of Tsitongambarika: prolonged periods of fruit scarcity may explain low diversity of frugivorous lemurs .................................... 28 3.