Posts tagged student
CU study: Some primates sleep in caves for safety
Dec 4th
The ring-tailed lemurs may be opting to sleep in caves for several reasons, said University of Colorado Boulder anthropology Associate Professor Michelle Sauther, who led the study. While the cave-sleeping behavior is likely important because it provides safety from potential predators, it also can provide the primates with access to water and nutrients, help to regulate their body temperatures during cold or hot weather and provide refuge from encroaching human activities like deforestation, she said.
“The remarkable thing about our study was that over a six-year period, the same troops of ring-tailed lemurs used the same sleeping caves on a regular, daily basis,” she said. “What we are seeing is a consistent, habitual use of caves as sleeping sites by these primates, a wonderful behavioral adaptation we had not known about before.”
A paper on the subject appeared in the November issue of the journal Madagascar Conservation and Development. Funding for the project came from Primate Conservation Inc., the International Primate Society, the American Society of Primatologists, the National Geographic Society, CU-Boulder, the University of North Dakota, Colorado College and the National Science Foundation.
Although sleeping in caves by ring-tailed lemurs — which are found only in Madagascar — has likely been going on for millennia, it is only now being recognized as a regular behavior, said Sauther. The endangered Fusui langurs, slender, long-tailed Asian monkeys roughly 2 feet tall, also have been documented sleeping in caves but as a direct result of extreme deforestation, moving from cave to cave every few days. There also have been isolated reports of South African baboons sleeping in caves.
Ring-tailed lemurs are easily identified by their characteristic, black and white ringed tails, which can be twice as long as their bodies. They weigh roughly 5 pounds with a head-body length of up to 18 inches and are highly social, congregating in groups of up to 30 individuals. Sporting fox-like snouts and slender frames, they are unusual among lemurs, spending a considerable amount of time on the ground feeding on leaves and fruit and socializing, said Sauther.
In “gallery forests” near rivers, ring-tailed lemurs regularly sleep high in the canopies of tall trees. But in “spiny forests,” most of the trees with woody stems are covered in rows of spines, making them uncomfortable as well as dangerous sleeping sites because predators can easily climb them, Sauther said. The new study documents their cave sleeping behavior in the dry spiny forest habitat adjacent to limestone cliffs.
The lemur observations were made at the 104,000-acre Tsimanampesotse National Park and the Tsinjoriake Protected Area in southwestern Madagascar between 2006 and this year. The research team used field observations and motion-detector camera traps to chart the behavior and movements of 11 different troops of ring-tailed lemurs.
One of the early clues to the cave sleeping by the lemurs was their presence on limestone cliffs adjacent to spiny forest trees or on the ground when Sauther’s research team arrived at the study sites early in the morning. “They seemed to come out of nowhere, and it was not from the trees,” she said. “We were baffled. But when we began arriving at the study sites earlier and earlier in the mornings, we observed them climbing out of the limestone caves.”
The primary predator of the lemurs is a cat-like, carnivorous mammal called a fossa native only to Madagascar that is closely related to the mongoose and may weigh up to 20 pounds. Fossil evidence shows a cougar-sized relative of the fossa that only became extinct several thousand years ago likely preyed on lemurs as well, she said.
There is evidence that some early ancestors of humans in South Africa may have used caves to protect themselves from predators, said Sauther. The remains of hominids going back several million years have been found inside or near limestone caves there, and some fossil bones have evidence of damage consistent with the bite of saber-toothed cats.
“We think cave-sleeping is something ring-tailed lemurs have been doing for a long time,” she said. “The behavior may be characteristic of a deep primate heritage that goes back millions of years.”
Co-authors of the new study included Associate Professor Frank Cuozzo of the University of North Dakota, Ibrahim Antho Youssouf Jacky, Lova Ravelohasindrazana and Jean Ravoavy of the University of Toliara in Madagascar, Krista Fish of Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Marni LaFleur of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. Fish and LaFleur are former CU-Boulder students of Sauther.
Sauther co-directs the Beza Mahafalay Lemur Biology Project in southwestern Madagascar with Cuozzo, a former CU-Boulder doctoral student. Centered at the roughly 1,500-acre Beza Mahafalay Special Reserve, the research focuses on how climate- and human-induced change affects lemur biology, behavior and survival.
Sauther and her team were aided by field observations made by students and faculty from the University of Toliara in Madagascar. In addition, undergraduate and graduate students from CU-Boulder regularly travel to Madagascar to conduct research under Sauther, including students from CU’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, which provides hands-on research and fosters student-faculty relationships.
“I never thought I would have a chance as a CU undergraduate to conduct research in an exotic place like Madagascar,” said former UROP student Anthony Massaro, who was part of a team that trapped ring-tailed lemurs, measured their physical characteristics including dentition, and released them back into the wild. “Dr. Sauther and Dr. Cuozzo mentored and guided me through the process of creating and conducting a unique research project.”
Unfortunately, habitat destruction, including deforestation, is increasing in many parts of Madagascar. In southwestern Madagascar, trees are being harvested for cattle forage, construction materials and firewood, and the mining of limestone there — used for the production of cement, fertilizer and other products — is increasing. Ring-tailed lemurs are now listed as an endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission.
Sauther has been conducting research on Madagascar for 25 years, beginning as a University of Washington graduate student. Today she has several CU-Boulder doctoral students working with her, including James Millette, who is studying how the tooth wear of lemurs relates to their foraging behaviors.
“Madagascar is a challenging place to conduct research,” Millette said. “Part of our job is to work with local communities, because without the support of these people there would be no lemur conservation. We consider Beza, where we have been working with the community for several decades, to be a real success story.”
A video of ring-tailed lemurs climbing into a cave is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjWF3_SmYS0&feature=youtu.be.
-CU-
CU MBB: Dinwiddie lights up the Rams for a Buff victory
Dec 4th
By B.G. Brooks, CUBuffs.com Contributing Editor
FORT COLLINS – Spencer Dinwiddie has little difficulty believing in himself or his game. His lone hang-up – and it’s receding by the day, maybe by the hour – is knowing when to turn it up and take over.
Just past the halfway mark of Tuesday’s first half in frenetic Moby Arena, Dinwiddie sensed he should be doing both. So he did. Getting help in a second-half stretch run from freshman Jaron Hopkins, Dinwiddie pushed Colorado past rival Colorado State 67-62 for the Buffs eighth consecutive win.
“I’m proud of our guys and Spencer was the big difference,” CU coach Tad Boyle said. “He was the best player on the floor and it wasn’t even close.”
In passing 1,000 points for his career, Dinwiddie finished with a game-best 28 – one off a career-high set in last season’s win against CSU in Boulder. But Tuesday night’s production might have been more impressive; Dinwiddie scored 19 of his total in the second half as the Buffs were trying to overcome themselves, hit seven of seven second-half free throws (he was 11-of-11 for the night), and scored seven of CU’s final nine points.
The 6-6 junior also capably defended CSU’s Daniel Bejarano, who surpassed his 13.6 average with 15 points but hit only four of 15 from the field. Redshirt freshman Wes Gordon held CSU’s leading scorer, J.J. Avila (19.0), to 16 points, and like Bejarano, Avila didn’t do much that wasn’t contested by the 6-9 Gordon. Avila needed 19 attempts to make his four field goals.
Boyle called Gordon’s defense “terrific” and said the Buffs “battled . . . we made plays when we had to make plays and got stops when we had to get stops. It wasn’t a pretty game offensively when you go three for 19 from three (point range). I mean it’s tough – and there were some good looks.”
Two of CU’s three treys came from Hopkins, who scored eight straight points – a steal/stuff, two consecutive threes – in the second half when the Buffs were rallying from a five-point deficit. He finished with 10 points, and teammate Askia Booker added 12 – including a pair of free throws with three seconds to play that sealed CU’s first win at Moby Arena since Dec. 22, 2007.
Boyle called Hopkins’ steal and slam “the biggest play of the game.” And while Hopkins wouldn’t go that far, he did concur, “It was pretty big. I read the play; I’m pretty good at reading the plays.”
Tuesday night’s two-for-two trey performance followed a three-for-three three-point Saturday at Air Force. “Shooting is all about confidence,” Boyle said. “You’ve got to feel like you’re going to make it and he’s feeling it right now.”
The Buffs handed the Rams their first home loss this season and now have beaten all three Front Range schools – CSU, Air Force, Wyoming – in the same season. That hadn’t happened in six previous tries.
“We want and expect to be the most dominant team in the region,” Boyle said. “But you can’t do it by talking about it; you’ve got to go out and do it.”
The game’s first 10 minutes hardly qualified as an offensive clinic . . . maybe clinically dead was a better fit. At the 7:38 mark the Buffs and Rams had combined to make seven of their 31 field goal attempts, with 14 turnovers between them (seven each).
CU finally cracked the ugly code and took a two-point lead (14-12) on a pair of Dinwiddie free throws – that’s when he sensed he should be taking over – and proceeded on a 7-0 run to take its largest lead of the half (19-12) with 7 minutes before intermission. After his pair of foul shots, Dinwiddie added a three-pointer and Xavier Talton hit a jumper to get the Buffs to 19.
“We weren’t scoring very well,” Dinwiddie said. “We had 12 points with about eight minutes to go (in the first half). That’s when I decided to get more aggressive. If we had been up 20 and Josh (Scott) was working and ‘Ski’ was working, you might have seen another ten-point, five-assist type game. When that’s not happening it’s my job to get more aggressive . . . I still am trying to get guys open shots, but if they’re not falling then it’s my job to score.”
And that awareness is what Boyle says makes Dinwiddie special. He had told Dinwiddie on Monday that being more aggressive would be necessary in Moby, adding, “Keep your mouth shut before the game, let your play do the talking . . . he’s smart; he’s going to do whatever this team needs him to do to help win games. It’s awful nice to have a point guard like that.”
Dinwiddie still has flashes of guilt about not being aggressive early enough in the Buffs’ only loss – 72-60 against Baylor in the season opener. “I waited too late in the Baylor game,” he said. “That’s why that loss is still really hard for me and I feel like I let the team down.”
Although his take-over in Tuesday night’s first half got the Buffs (kind of) untracked offensively, the Rams led 34-30 at the break. CU’s nine first-half turnovers were a season-high, with CSU at the same number. The Buffs committed only five more in the second half, but the Rams matched their first-half total and had 18 for the game, leading to 18 Buffs points.
The pace – and the efficiency – smoothed out in the opening minutes of the second half. After CSU extended its lead to six on two occasions, CU rallied behind Dinwiddie and Booker, outscoring the Rams 10-4 to knot the score at 40-40 on a Dinwiddie layup with 16:50 to play. Maybe ugly was done: The Buffs opened the half by hitting five of their first seven field goal attempts.
When Dinwiddie converted two free throws, CU was back in front, 42-40. But ugly wasn’t done: Over the next 31/2 minutes, the Buffs missed six shots until Scott scored on a put-back for a 44-44 tie. The rivals stayed within two or four points of each other until Bejarano’s triple from the left wing pushed the Rams up 51-46 with 10:56 remaining.
The Buffs pulled to within 53-52 on Hopkins’ steal and stuff at the 7:12 mark. Just under 4 minutes later, Hopkins answered again, draining a trey from the right corner to tie the score at 55-55. It was only CU’s second make from behind the arc in 18 attempts, but Hopkins was feeling it.
He canned his second straight trey (and his eighth straight point) to put CU up 58-57, then fed Dinwiddie for a layup and a subsequent three-point play for a 61-58 Buffs lead with 2:54 showing. Dinwiddie drove the lane for another layup (63-58) and CU appeared to be in control.
But the Rams weren’t rolling. Carlton Hurst hit a put-back (63-60) and Joe DiCiman went to the free throw line after Xavier Johnson fouled out and hit one of two free throws (63-61). The Buffs couldn’t control DiCiman’s miss, and Avila was fouled by Scott with 24.8 seconds to play.
Avila hit one of two free throws (63-62) and CU again put the game in Dinwiddie’s hands. With 14.3 seconds left, he hit both ends of a one-and-one (65-62), leaving CSU desperate but not done.
Avila tried a straight away trey that flirted with the net, but Booker controlled the air ball, was fouled on his rush downcourt and hit two free throws to seal it. After Booker hit his first free throw, Dinwiddie walked toward one CSU student section talking to them more than himself.
“I was in a very, very, very polite manner going to the student section that was heckling me constantly during the game and telling them to please be quiet,” he said. “We just won the ball game and now they have nothing to say to me.”
The Rams had the Buffs’ full attention, and Hopkins said he and his fellow freshmen were well-prepped for the Moby madness: “Beau Gamble talked a lot about how it’s going to be crazy and it’s our first real away game. He was right on the money. It was a tough atmosphere to play in and I look forward to playing in more atmospheres like that.”
Although not as hostile, the atmosphere will be even more raucous at the Coors Events Center on Saturday when No. 6 Kansas visits (1:20 p.m., ESPN2). The game, Dinwiddie understated, “is big. It’s about us taking that next step. We believe inside the locker room we’re top 25 but we haven’t proved it. That game is kind of what can put a stamp on our season.”
“It’s really big for us,” added Hopkins. “That’s a game the coaches are looking forward to and we’re looking forward to it as players, too. It’s really big for us and our confidence is pretty high.”
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