The Missing Lemur Link

Ivan Norscia carries out research at the Natural History Museum, University of Pisa, Italy. He started investigating the behavioural ecology of lemurs in dry and wet forests of Madagascar and through his research has contributed to the redefinition of a lemur species (Avahi meridionalis). His research later expanded to the behaviour of monkeys, apes and humans. Elisabetta Palagi is a department member of the Natural History Museum, University of Pisa, Italy. Her research centres upon lemur individual recognition and multimodal signalling, which has expanded to other primate and non-primate animals. Most recently, in conjunction with Ivan Norscia, she has adopted a cross-species comparison approach to shed light on the biological foundation of human behaviour.

An opening message Jane Goodall; Foreword Alison Jolly and Ian Tatterall; Preface; Part I. Communication: From Sociality to Society: 1. Who are you? How lemurs recognize each other in a small centred world; 2. What do you mean? Multimodal communication for a better signal transmission; 3. Vertical living: sexual selection strategies and upright locomotion; Part II. How Conflicts Shape Societies: 4. Bossing around the forest: power asymmetry and hierarchy; 5. Something to make peace for: conflict management and resolution; 6. Anxiety...from scratch: emotional response to tense situations; Part III. Why Lemurs Keep in Touch: 7. Playing lemurs: why primates have been playing for a long time; 8. Sex is not on discount: mating market and lemurs; 9. Understanding lemurs: future directions in lemur cognition; Afterword Michael Huffman; Index.