Female Dominance and Maternal Investment in Strepsirhine Primates

Abstract

Prenatal maternal-investment rate (litter weight divided by gestation) was found to be the best available predictor of female dominance in primates. The female-dominant Malagasy lemurs are unique in their combination of a relatively low basal metabolic rate and a relatively high rate of prenatal maternal investment. The relationship between maternal investment and basal metabolic rate in strep-sirhines supports the hypothesis that lemurs raise their basal metabolic rate during reproduction and suggests that this increase is on the order of 75% or more.