title: Analysis of lateralized components of feeding behavior in the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta).
abstract: Twenty-one ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) were videotaped during feeding. They had previously been classified as left-, right- or ambipreferent on the basis of the hand used to reach for food. The feeding sequences provided duration-based measures of manipulation, hand and mouth lateralization, and posture during feeding sequences with 2 types of food. Hand preference for reaching and holding was stable over time and across measurement conditions. As a group, the lemurs grasped fruit bimanually more often than chow; however, right- and ambipreferent lemurs spent more time holding food bimanually than did left-preferent ones. Older animals consumed chow more quickly than did younger animals but did not differ in their rate of manipulation. Lemurs had a preference for using one side of the mouth in feeding, but this had no directional relation to preferred hand. Three postural feeding patterns were identified.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, Tennessee 38152.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Milliken
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Stafford
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D007900:Lemur / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D011187:Posture