Ring-tailed lemur vocalizations

Main article: Ring-tailed lemur

Adult vocalizing

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The ring-tailed lemur has a complex array of distinct vocalizations used to maintain group cohesion during foraging and alert group members to the presence of a predator. The tables below detail calls documented in the wild and studied at the Duke Lemur Center.[1]

Adult Affiliative Vocalizations Call  | Vocalizers  | Inferred Function

|
|

Moan

sample 1ⓘ
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| All except infants <14 weeks  | Promotes group cohesion in low-to-moderate arousal contexts
Early-High Wail

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| All except infants <6–8 weeks  | Promotes group cohesion; indicates moderate-to-high level arousal level of caller
Late-High Wail

sample 1ⓘ
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| Non-infant females (typically), males (rarely)  | May promote group cohesion under conditions of extreme arousal
Howl

sample 1ⓘ
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| Non-infant males  | Male advertisement call; together with female counter-calling, howls advertise the presence and location of the group
Hmm

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| All except infants <5 weeks  | Indicates that slow group relocation is imminent and promotes group cohesion, or reflects a caller's desire to maintain conspecific contact
Huh

sample 1ⓘ
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| Infants >3 months (most frequent); male juveniles and adolescents; rarely by adults  | Similar to hmm, but marks a caller's location more effectively
Purr

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| Adult females (most frequent); both sexes of all age classes  | Appears to express contentment; also may communicate nonaggressive intent of an adult during close contact
Chirp

sample 1ⓘ
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| All except infants <3 weeks  | Elicits rapid group movement and may promote group cohesion in this context
Adult Agonistic Vocalizations Call  | Vocalizers  | Inferred Function

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Yip

sample 1ⓘ
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| All non-infants, except alpha females  | Expresses mild fear and, perhaps, willingness to defer to a dominant
Cackle

sample 1ⓘ
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sample 5ⓘ
| Adults of both sexes  | A defensive display that may reflect a willingness to become aggressive if pressed
Squeal

sample 1ⓘ
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| Males, during tail waving only  | Male "status assertion" vocalization
Twitter

sampleⓘ
| All except infants <6 months  | Communicates somewhat fearful but nevertheless assertive demeanor
Plosive Bark

sample 1ⓘ
sample 2ⓘ
sample 3ⓘ
sample 4ⓘ
| Both sexes of all ages classes  | High-intensity threat vocalization
Chutter

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| Dominant adults (toward subordinates of all ages)  | Low-to-moderate threat vocalization; may encourage subordinates to give way to dominants, thereby reaffirming dyadic dominance relationships.
Alerting & Antipredator Vocalizations Call  | Vocalizers  | Inferred Function

|
|

Gulp

sample 1ⓘ
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| All except infants <14 weeks  | Generalized "group alert" vocalization
Rasp

sample 1ⓘ
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sample 3ⓘ
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| All except infants  | Aerial predator alarm call
Shriek, variant 1

sample 1ⓘ
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| All except infants  | May serve to inform a raptor that it has been seen, and/or may discourage pursuit by intimidation, as well as to broadcast widely that a low-flying raptor has been detected
Shriek, variant 2

sample 1ⓘ
sample 2ⓘ
| All except infants  | Same as variant 1, except that variant 2 may express the more urgent nature of the aerial predator encounter.
Click

sample 1ⓘ
sample 2ⓘ
sample 3ⓘ
| All except infants <2 weeks  | The click is a low-arousal "location marker" that draws attention to a caller.
Close-Mouth Click Series (CMCS)

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| All except infants <2 months  | Moderate-arousal "location marker"
Open-Mouth Click Series (OMCS)

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| All except infants  | A "location marker" reserved for a limited number of contexts of very high arousal; also appears to serve as a cue that aids in the synchronization of yaps
Yap

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| All except infants  | Carnivore mobbing call
Infant Affiliative Vocalizations Call  | Inferred Function

|

Infant Contact Call

sample 1ⓘ
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| Conspecific vocal contact; functions initially to attract the mother and later as a precursor to moans and wails
Infant Trill, variant 1

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| Expresses desire for, and contentment from, conspecific contact
Infant Trill, variant 2

sample 1ⓘ
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| May express contentment and/or crossing the sensory threshold from contentment to discomfort
Infant Distress Vocalizations Call  | Inferred Function

|

Infant Whit, variant 1

sampleⓘ
| Infant distress call; expresses discomfort and/or distress
Infant Whit, variant 2

sample 1ⓘ
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| Infant high-intensity distress call
Infant Yelp

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sample 3ⓘ
| Serves both as an affiliative and distress vocalization in eliciting prompt retrieval by the mother

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Macedonia, Joseph M. (1993). "The vocal repertoire of the ringtailed lemur (Lemur catta)". Folia Primatologica. 61 (4): 186–217\. doi:10.1159/000156749. PMID 7959437.