Fork-striped lemurs
| Fork-striped lemurs | ||||||||||||
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Western lemur lemur ( Phaner pallescens ) |
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| Phaner | ||||||||||||
| Gray , 1870 |
The fork-marked lemur or Gabelstreifigen lemurs ( Phaner ) are a primate species from the family of lemurs within the lemurs . The genus comprises four species, the animals have specialized in tree sap nutrition.
description
With a head body length of 23 to 29 centimeters, a tail length of 29 to 37 centimeters and a weight of 300 to 500 grams, fork striped lemurs are among the larger representatives of their family. Their fur is reddish-brown, gray-brown or gray on the upper side, the throat and the belly are lighter, mostly yellowish. The animals owe their name to the striking facial drawing, two black stripes that run from the top of the head over the eyes and meet at the snout. Another characteristic is the dark eel line that runs along the back to the base of the tail. Some characteristics make adjustments to their specialized diet: the hands and feet are relatively large, the fingernails are keeled like nails, which allows a better hold on the tree trunk. The upper and lower incisors stand forward, the upper canines and premolars are elongated, which makes it easier to bite open the tree bark. The tongue is long and narrow, the appendix is enlarged. The fork-striped lemurs show some convergences to other, not closely related primates with a similar way of life, such as the keel nail galagos or the marmosets .
distribution and habitat
Like all lemurs, lemurs only occur in Madagascar , where they inhabit both the rainforests in the east and the dry forests in the west. The exact limits of the distribution areas of the individual species are often unclear, and there are also populations that have not yet been assigned to a specific species.
Lifestyle and diet
The way of life has only been better researched in the case of one species, the western lemur . These animals are nocturnal and sleep in tree hollows during the day, mostly in the upper layers of the tree. At night they look for food, moving quickly through the branches on all fours and jumping larger distances between trees (up to 10 meters). They live in monogamous family groups in which the partners sleep together and meet again and again at night, but otherwise go for food separately. The partners use numerous sounds to communicate and thus maintain contact with other groups. They are territorial animals, the territories cover around 4 hectares.
The diet of the lamb's lemurs consists mainly of tree sap. Since these are available all year round, unlike other lemurs, they do not hibernate . The food is supplemented by flowers, nectar and insects. Thanks to their nectar nutrition, they play an important role in plant pollination, for example in baobab trees .
Reproduction
In contrast to the other lemurs, only one young is born in these primates, usually in February or March. The young animal spends its first week of life in the parental tree cavity, later it clings to the mother's belly. When it gets bigger, it rides on your back. When it is around three years old, it leaves its birth group. The life expectancy of animals in human care is up to 12 years.
threat
The main threat to these primates is the destruction of their habitat due to deforestation. The IUCN lists two of the four species as "endangered" ( vulnerable ), the other two are currently not considered endangered.
Systematics
Fork-lined lemurs are the sister taxons of all other cat lemurs, they are run in their own subfamily, Phanerinae. A distinction is made between four species, which until recently were listed as subspecies of a single species:
- The masoala lemur ( Phaner furcifer ) lives in the rainforests in eastern Madagascar.
- The western fork lemur ( Phaner pallescens ) is native to the west of the island.
- The Sambirano- Fork-Striped Lemur ( Phaner parienti ) inhabits the Sambirano region in the northwestern part.
- The Northern Fork- Striped Lemur ( Phaner electromontis ) is native to the Montagne d'Ambre region on the northern tip of this island.
In 2010 Russell Mittermeier discovered a previously undescribed fifth species.
literature
- Nick Garbutt: Mammals of Madagascar. A Complete Guide. Yale University Press, New Haven CT 2007, ISBN 978-0-300-12550-4 .
- Thomas Geissmann : Comparative Primatology. Springer-Verlag, Berlin et al. 2002, ISBN 3-540-43645-6 .
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
