Ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta) use olfaction to locate distant fruit

This study is the first to investigate the ability of strepsirrhine primates to detect the aroma of distant fruit and navigate odor plumes to the fruit. We hid containers in the underbrush of a semi-natural forest, some baited with real cantaloupe and some with sham cantaloupe, 4-17 m from a path routinely used by the lemurs. The lemurs found the real cantaloupe on days that the wind blew the scent of the fruit towards the trail. They did not find the sham cantaloupe. The traditional belief is that primates are unable to track odor plumes. Our results indicate that olfaction may be used to respond to cues from distant sources. The ability to track odor plumes may be a critical foraging skill for strepsirrhines.