This project will study the the ecological effects on posture and locomotion in two very different primate species inhabiting the same lowland rain forest area in Madagascar. The two species differ in body size, dietary adaptations and reproductive patterns but are both day-active, live in the ame area, and are closely related.. Therefore, the differences between the two species may be due more to adaptation than to differences in their evolutionary history. The hypothesis to be tested here is that differences in diet, the distribution pattern of food in the environment and through the seasons, patterns of reproduction, and body size differences have determined the major differences in the manner and ways the animals move through the environment. The project is especially worth-while because one of the species, in particular, is endangered - this has major conservation ramifications.
