Golden bamboo lemur
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Golden bamboo lemur ( Hapalemur aureus ) |
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| Hapalemur aureus | ||||||||||||
| Meier et al., 1987 |
The golden bamboo lemur or golden half- lemur ( Hapalemur aureus ) is a primate species from the lemur group .
features
Golden bamboo lemurs are among the larger representatives of the bamboo lemurs , they reach a head body length of 34 to 38 centimeters, in addition there is a 38 to 42 centimeter long tail. Their weight is 1.25 to 1.65 kilograms. Their fur is dense and soft, it is colored olive brown on the surface, with the top of the head, the nape of the neck, the shoulders and the top of the tail being a little darker. The underside and insides of the limbs are colored golden brown, as are the areas above the eyes, cheeks and throat - the face itself is dark. As with all bamboo lemurs, the ears are small and rounded and the muzzle short.
distribution and habitat
Like all lemurs, these animals only live in Madagascar . Their distribution area covers a small region in the southeast of the island, which extends from the Ranomafana area in the north to the Andringitra mountainous region in the south. Their habitat are rainforests lined with bamboo from 600 to 1600 meters above sea level.
Way of life
Golden bamboo lemurs are predominantly diurnal, their main activity times are in the early morning and late afternoon. They stay mainly in the trees, where they move vertically climbing and jumping. They live in groups of two to six animals, these are family groups with a male, a female and the common offspring. They are territorial animals, the territories cover around 30 hectares and are marked with glandular secretions and loud calls.
They feed almost exclusively on the bamboo species Cathariostachys madagascariensis , whereby they prefer saplings and young leaves. Thanks to a specialized digestive system, they can cope with the high cyanide content of their food, which would be fatal to many other living things.
After a gestation period of around 140 days, a single young is usually born in November or December. The young animals stay with their parents for around 3 years before they leave their birth group.
threat
The main dangers for the golden bamboo lemurs are the destruction of their habitat through slash and burn and the deforestation of the bamboo stocks, in addition to which there is hunting in some places. Their entire range covers less than 5000 km² and is highly fragmented, the populations are declining. The IUCN lists the species as "critically endangered" ( endangered ).
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 .
- Russell A. Mittermeier , Jörg U. Ganzhorn, William R. Konstant, Kenneth Glander, Ian Tattersall , Colin P. Groves , Anthony B. Rylands, Andreas Hapke, Jonah Ratsimbazafy, Mireya I. Mayor, Edward Louis jr, Yves Rumpler, Christoph Schwitzer, Rodin Rasoloarison: Lemur Diversity in Madagascar. In: International Journal of Primatology. 29, 2008, ISSN 0164-0291 , pp. 1607-1656.
Web links
- Information, photos and videos at arkive.org
- Hapalemur aureus onthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . Retrieved April 6, 2009.