Sleeping behavior of the wild François’ langur (Trachypithecus francoisi) in Mayanghe Nature Reserve, China

Abstract

Sleeping behavior is one of the most important components of primate socio-ecology, which can provide valuable insight for social relationships and their influencing factors. In this study, we observed the sleeping behavior of wild François’ langur (Trachypithecus francoisi) from July 2011 to June 2012 in Mayanghe Nature Reserve, China. The results indicated that the langurs spent most of the time sleeping, with an annual average of 670.25 min. The average sleeping time in summer was the shortest with a duration of 580.50 min on average, and sleeping time has the longest duration in winter with an average of 770.53 min. This indicates that there was a significant difference in the sleeping time in different seasons. In addition, temperature and weather condition play a role on the sleeping behavior of T. francoisi. T. francoisi allocated significantly less time for sleeping and leaving sleeping site, and more time for entering the sleeping site and pre-sleeping in sunny days than they did in rainy days.

Key Words:

• François’ langur (Trachypithecus francoisi)
• pre-sleeping behavior
• sleeping behavior
• huddling
• Mayanghe Nature Reserve

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We would like to thank Mayanghe Nature Reserve Bureau for their assistance for data collection. We also thank Ye Cao during the fieldwork.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ETHICAL STANDARD

All research protocols reported here adhered to the regulatory requirements of and approved by the animal care committee of the Wildlife Protection Society of China.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Forestry Research funding of Guizhou Province, China [No. 35(2022)Qianlin Kehe].