Female Dominance and Maternal Investment in Strepsirhine Primates

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Abstract
Prenatal maternal-investment rate (litter weight divided by gestation) was found to be the best available predictor of female dominance in primates. The female-dominant Malagosy lemurs are unique in their combination of a relatively low basal metabolic rate and a relatively high rate of prenatal maternal investment. The relationship between maternal investment of basal metabolic rate in strepsirhines supports the hypothesis that lemurs raise their basal metabolic rate during reproduction and suggests that this increase is on the order of 75% or more.