Mouse lemur
Encyclopedia
The mouse lemurs are nocturnal lemur
s of the genus Microcebus. Like all lemurs, mouse lemurs are native to Madagascar
.
Mouse lemurs have a combined head, body and tail length of less than 27 centimetres (10.6 in), making them the smallest primates (the smallest species being Madame Berthe's mouse lemur
); however, their weight fluctuates in response to daylight duration.
Mouse lemurs are omnivorous; their diets are diverse and include insect
secretions, arthropod
s, small vertebrate
s, gum, fruit
, flower
s, nectar, and also leaves and bud
s depending on the season.
Lemur
Lemurs are a clade of strepsirrhine primates endemic to the island of Madagascar. They are named after the lemures of Roman mythology due to the ghostly vocalizations, reflective eyes, and the nocturnal habits of some species...
s of the genus Microcebus. Like all lemurs, mouse lemurs are native to Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
.
Mouse lemurs have a combined head, body and tail length of less than 27 centimetres (10.6 in), making them the smallest primates (the smallest species being Madame Berthe's mouse lemur
Madame Berthe's Mouse Lemur
Madame Berthe's mouse lemur or Berthe's mouse lemur is the smallest of the mouse lemurs and the smallest primate in the world; the average body length is and seasonal weight is around...
); however, their weight fluctuates in response to daylight duration.
Mouse lemurs are omnivorous; their diets are diverse and include insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
secretions, arthropod
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s, small vertebrate
Vertebrate
Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...
s, gum, fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
, flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s, nectar, and also leaves and bud
Bud
In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of the stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be specialized to develop flowers or short shoots, or may have...
s depending on the season.
Species
- Genus Microcebus: mouse lemurs
- Gray mouse lemurGray Mouse LemurThe gray mouse lemur , or lesser mouse lemur, is a small lemur, a type of strepsirrhine primate, found only on the island of Madagascar. Weighing , it is the largest of the mouse lemurs , a group which include the smallest primates in the world...
, Microcebus murinus - Reddish-gray mouse lemurReddish-gray Mouse LemurThe reddish-gray mouse lemur also known as the gray-brown mouse lemur or rufous-gray mouse lemur, is found in Western Madagascar in the region around Beza Mahafaly Reserve, north to Lamboharana....
, Microcebus griseorufus - Golden-brown mouse lemur, Microcebus ravelobensis
- Northern rufous mouse lemurNorthern Rufous Mouse LemurThe northern rufous mouse lemur , northern brown mouse lemur, or Tavaratra mouse lemur is found in North-western Madagascar in Ankarana Reserve....
, Microcebus tavaratra - Sambirano mouse lemurSambirano Mouse LemurThe Sambirano mouse lemur is a small, recently discovered primate, and like the other mouse lemurs can only be found on the island of Madagascar. The dorsal side is both cinnamon and rufous-cinnamon, and is grey ventrally...
, Microcebus sambiranensis - Simmons' mouse lemurSimmons' Mouse LemurSimmons' mouse lemur is a species of mouse lemur known only from Betampona Special Reserve and Zahamena National Park in Madagascar....
, Microcebus simmonsi - Pygmy mouse lemur, Microcebus myoxinus
- Brown mouse lemur, Microcebus rufus
- Madame Berthe's mouse lemurMadame Berthe's Mouse LemurMadame Berthe's mouse lemur or Berthe's mouse lemur is the smallest of the mouse lemurs and the smallest primate in the world; the average body length is and seasonal weight is around...
, Microcebus berthae - Goodman's mouse lemurGoodman's Mouse LemurGoodman's mouse lemur is a species of mouse lemur from Andasibe in eastern Madagascar. It is thought to have diverged from other mouse lemurs in the region about 2 million years ago....
, Microcebus lehilahytsara - Jolly's mouse lemurJolly's Mouse LemurJolly's mouse lemur is a species of mouse lemur from Mananjary and Kianjavato in Madagascar.The species is named in honor of primatologist Alison Jolly....
, Microcebus jollyae - MacArthur's mouse lemurMacArthur's Mouse LemurMacArthur's mouse lemur , or Anjiahely mouse lemur, is a species of mouse lemur known only from an Inter-River-System in the eastern Makira Natural Park in Madagascar....
, Microcebus macarthurii - Mittermeier's mouse lemurMittermeier's Mouse LemurMittermeier's mouse lemur is a species of mouse lemur known only from Anjanaharibe-Sud Special Reserve in Madagascar....
, Microcebus mittermeieri - Claire's mouse lemurClaire's Mouse LemurClaire's mouse lemur , or Nosy Be mouse lemur, is a newly described species of lemur from the genus of the mouse lemurs . It lives on the island Nosy Bé in the Antsiranana province of Madagascar, and on the mainland near the village of Manehoka, including Lokobe Reserve...
, Microcebus mamiratra, synonymous to Microcebus lokobensis - Bongolava mouse lemurBongolava mouse lemurThe Bongolava mouse lemur is a species of mouse lemur endemic to Madagascar. It lives in western deciduous forest within a limited range, including Bongolava Forest and Ambodimahabibo Forest between the Sofia River and the Mahajamba River...
Microcebus bongolavensis - Danfoss' mouse lemurDanfoss' Mouse LemurDanfoss' mouse lemur , or Ambarijeby mouse lemur, is a species of mouse lemur endemic to Madagascar. It lives in western deciduous forest within a limited range between the Sofia River and the Maevarano River...
Microcebus danfossi - Arnhold's mouse lemurArnhold's Mouse LemurArnhold's mouse lemur or Montagne d’Ambre mouse lemur is a species of mouse lemur endemic to Madagascar. Its holotype was first collected on 27 November 2005, and was first described in 2008. According to genetic tests, it is genetically distinct from its closest sister taxa, the Sambirano mouse...
, Microcebus arnholdi - Margot Marsh's mouse lemurMargot Marsh's Mouse LemurMargot Marsh's mouse lemur or the Antafondro mouse lemur is a species of mouse lemur endemic to Madagascar. Its holotype was first collected on 21 May 2006, proposed in 2006 by Andriantompohavana et al., and was formally described in 2008 by E...
, Microcebus margotmarshae
- Gray mouse lemur
External links
- Mouse lemur skeleton – Skeleton from the University of Texas at Austin
- BBC video clips and news articles