There are around 15 species of mouse lemurs and some have just been discovered in the past decade. The pygmy mouse lemur has been surpassed by the recently discovered Madame Berthe's mouse lemur as the smallest primate on the planet, with a body length of only 3 or 4 inches and weighing in at around one ounce. Its big eyes are due to its nocturnal nature, its cuteness due to its lemur-ness!
Madame Berthe's Mouse Lemur Source: Mammals' Planet
It does rather look more like a mouse (hence its name) or perhaps a squirrel or chipmunk, but it is a primate. Lemurs are prosimians, pre-monkeys if you will, with characteristics more primitive than their monkey cousins.
Mouse lemurs' diet consists of fruit, flowers and insects. They spend nearly all of their life in the trees, sometimes sleeping in a hole or nest during the day, but more commonly just sleeping in the branches, and hunting at night. Some mouse lemur species hibernate - not because of cold weather, but during the dry season when food resources are low. They store fat in their back legs and tail and take a three or four month nap. Some mouse lemurs also go into torpor during the day to save energy.
Because lemurs only live in one place and new species are being discovered on a regular basis, it is critical to maintain habitat and food sources for these little guys. For a video of a mouse lemur, click here. I'll be doing posts on other types of lemurs in the future. Stay tuned.
MacArthur's Mouse Lemur
Photo by Dr. Blanchard Randrianambinina Source: Wildlife Extra
Mouse lemurs' diet consists of fruit, flowers and insects. They spend nearly all of their life in the trees, sometimes sleeping in a hole or nest during the day, but more commonly just sleeping in the branches, and hunting at night. Some mouse lemur species hibernate - not because of cold weather, but during the dry season when food resources are low. They store fat in their back legs and tail and take a three or four month nap. Some mouse lemurs also go into torpor during the day to save energy.
Goodman's Mouse Lemur Source: Mammal Watching
Because lemurs only live in one place and new species are being discovered on a regular basis, it is critical to maintain habitat and food sources for these little guys. For a video of a mouse lemur, click here. I'll be doing posts on other types of lemurs in the future. Stay tuned.
Have you ever visited the Duke Lemur Center in Durham, North Carolina? They have the largest colony of captive lemurs in the world and about 20 different diurnal and nocturnal lemurs. Won't see mouse lemurs, but you can see fat-tailed dwarf lemurs which are very tiny also. I do question who gets the distinction of "tiniest lemur?" Madame Berthe's weigh in at 30 grams, pygmy mouse weighs in at 43; Madame Berthe head-body length is 9-9.5 cm, Pygmy mouse head-body length is 12-13cm. (According to Mittermeier et al. 2010. Lemurs of Madagascar. 3rd ed.)
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