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Abstract Bacterial communities present in the host digestive tract are important for the breakdown and absorption of nutrients required by the host. Changes in diet and the environment are major factors affecting the composition and diversity of the fecal microbiome. In addition to changes in ambient temperature and rainfall, primates living in seasonal temperate environments also need to adapt to seasonal changes in food resource quantity and quality. However, there is a lack of information about the fecal microbiome in African strepsirrhines relative to other primate taxa. We examined the effects of seasonal dietary and environmental changes on fecal microbial alpha diversity and composition in wild greater thick-tailed galagos (Otolemur crassicaudatus) at Lajuma Research Centre, South Africa. We collected fecal samples and assessed food availability and weather in summer and winter across 1 year and used 16S rRNA next-generation sequencing to characterise the fecal microbiome of 49 animals. We found significant increases in rainfall, ambient temperature, and food availability in summer compared with winter. However, we found no significant changes in body mass or in the overall diversity of bacterial species present in fecal samples between the two seasons. We found significant decreases in the abundance of certain bacterial families in winter, suggesting a change in diet. Our findings suggest that greater thick-tailed galagos can find food resources to maintain their body mass throughout the year. Our insights into the seasonal fecal microbiome of greater thick-tailed galagos add to the growing knowledge and understanding of fecal microbiomes in primates and how they help primates cope with changes to their environments. 

Abstract As global non-human primate populations show dramatic declines due to climate change, land transformation and other anthropogenic stressors, it has become imperative to study physiological responses to environmental change in order to understand primate adaptability and enhance species conservation strategies. We examined the effects of seasonality on faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) concentrations of free-ranging male and female thick-tailed greater galagos (Otolemur crassicaudatus) in an Afromontane habitat. To do so, we established an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for monitoring fGCM concentrations in the species using a biological validation. Following this, faecal samples were collected each month over the course of a year from free-ranging males and females situated in the Soutpansberg Mountains, Limpopo, South Africa. Multivariate analyses revealed lactation period was a driver of fGCM levels, whereas sex and food availability mostly influenced seasonal fGCM concentrations in the total population. Thus far, the results of this study show that drivers of fGCM levels, an indication of increased adrenocortical activity, in O. crassicaudatus are numerous and complex within the natural environment. The species may be adapted to such conditions and an extreme change to any one component may result in elevated fGCM levels. This increases our understanding of strepsirrhine primate physiology and offers initial insights into species adaptability to a challenging environment.