Home Range Size and Seasonal Variation in Habitat Use of Aye-Ayes (Daubentonia madagascariensis) in Torotorofotsy, Madagascar.

Madagascar's dramatic climatic fluctuations mean most lemurs adjust behaviors seasonally as resource availability fluctuates. Many lemurs will adopt one of two strategies, a resource maximizer or an area minimizer, when adjusting to seasonal shifts in resource availability. However, it is unknown if and how aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) ranging behavior is influenced by seasonality. We explored whether habitat use changed seasonally. We followed two aye-ayes, an adult male and an adult female, in the undisturbed forest of Torotorofotsy, Madagascar, from April 2012 to December 2017. We used instantaneous focal-animal sampling to collect behavioral data every 5 min and GPS locations every 20 min. We used the minimum convex polygon (MCP) to determine overall home range, and the Brownian bridge movement model (BBMM) to estimate overall and seasonal home range of the female aye-aye from November 2014 to October 2017. We used Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to determine whether there were significant differences in home range sizes between seasons across years and to examine whether there were seasonal differences in height of invertebrate foraging, generalized linear models to assess seasonal differences in travel rates and nesting locations, and χ2 tests to determine whether there were differences in forest strata use when foraging on invertebrates. The male's MCP home range was 2,586 ha, and the female's MCP home range was 765 ha. The seasonal BBMM for the female varied between 443.6 and 1,010.0 ha, though infant rearing appears to have influenced these values. There were no significant differences in seasonal home range, travel rates, nesting locations, or height of invertebrate feeding. However, canopy level invertebrate foraging occurred more often than understory or ground levels. It appears aye-ayes in this undisturbed forest were not influenced by seasonal shifts and had larger home ranges than any previously reported. These findings may indicate that aye-ayes in an undisturbed forest are resource maximizers, closely linked to invertebrate assemblages.

Behaviour and Ecology of Male Aye-Ayes (Daubentonia madagascariensis) in the Kianjavato Classified Forest, South-Eastern Madagascar.

Previous studies found that aye-ayes (Daubentonia madagascariensis) consume a variety of non-invertebrate resources, supporting the hypothesis that aye-ayes are too large-bodied to focus feeding efforts on insects. However, these conclusions were based on introduced populations, with little known about aye-aye behaviour and ecology in its natural habitat. This study investigates activity budgets, diet, and home range/territories of 2 male aye-ayes in the Kianjavato Classified Forest, a disturbed forest in south-eastern Madagascar, from October 2013 to October 2014. We used radiotelemetry and focal-animal sampling methods to collect behavioural data. We recorded GPS coordinates of the focal animal every 20 min, calculating the home range size for each individual. Results showed that male aye-ayes spent most of their time feeding and travelling. Their feeding time primarily focussed on larvae and adult insects from various substrates, and to a lesser extent Canarium spp. seeds. Home range sizes of the 2 males varied between individuals, overlapped greatly, and appeared to be related to the location of females. Our findings indicate that aye-aye behaviours are strongly indicative of insect-centric feeding ecology.