By studying wild lemurs in Madagascar and their peers at the DLC, we have the potential to answer age-old and emerging questions across scientific disciplines. Lemur research can simultaneously inform conservation and husbandry strategies, train the next generation of American and Malagasy scientists, inspire curiosity and engage the general public, and promote international collaborations rooted in teamwork.
All research projects must undergo a multi-step, multi-department approval process. “When we review protocols, we assess the merit of the study to make sure there is scientific merit—a strong basis for doing the study—and that there will be high-quality data that result from it,” explains DLC Director of Research Erin Ehmke, Ph.D. “We also ensure that it falls within the Lemur Center’s non-invasive policies. The lemurs’ care and wellbeing are our utmost priorities.”
A Model Facility
The DLC serves as a model facility that produces high-quality research while prioritizing animal wellbeing. The Lemur Center is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), which means it meets the highest standards for animal welfare, health, and nutrition. We are also accredited by AAALAC International, which means the DLC meets the highest standards for animal welfare, health, and nutrition for animals used in research.
The DLC is proud to be the only organization in the world that holds accreditations from both the AZA and AAALAC International. Our dual accreditations reflect our commitment to producing high-quality scientific data while also maintaining the highest standards of care for the animals, and prove that we can be advocates for lemur health and wellbeing and at the same time world leaders in lemur research.
Hibernation Research
While the DLC supports a broad range of research from visiting researchers, our primary in-house focus is on hibernation.
From Arctic landscapes to tropical environments, many animals use hibernation to cope with energetic crises, such as food shortages. Hibernators are at one end of the heterothermic response, which also includes more opportunistic strategies like daily torpor. Despite being a strategy that has evolved repeatedly in all major mammalian lineages, and although other primates, including the mouse lemurs, can use hibernation and torpor (facultative hibernators), dwarf lemurs are the only primates to always hibernate in the wild. This means that all dwarf lemurs must anticipate and prepare for hibernation, by switching their metabolism during the active season to store significant amounts of fat. That fat is metabolized during the hibernation season, which can last up to seven months a year.
The Duke Lemur Center is home to the only population of fat-tailed dwarf lemurs outside of Madagascar. The Anna Borruel Codina Center for Lemur Medicine and Research is equipped with two hibernation rooms, called hibernacula, that allow husbandry and research staff to mimic the natural conditions that modulate hibernation in the wild. Doing this, we’re able to replicate, to a degree, the dwarf lemurs’ experiences in Madagascar and gain insight into how this incredible survival technique works.
In addition to studying dwarf lemurs under more controlled conditions at the DLC, we also study dwarf lemurs in different natural environments in Madagascar, including our new research station at Anjajavy Reserve. Whereas we expect research from Madagascar to shed light into the long-term effect of habitat disturbance, such as forest fragmentation, on dwarf lemurs’ ability to hibernate and rely on alternative food sources, research at the DLC can elucidate the underlying mechanisms of hibernation and how different conditions can modulate its expression.
Here’s a news round-up of articles and podcasts about dwarf-lemur hibernation, written for a popular audience.