Northern giant mouse lemur
| Northern giant mouse lemur | ||||||||||||
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Northern giant mouse lemur ( Mirza zaza ) on a banana inflorescence |
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| Mirza zaza | ||||||||||||
| Roos & Kappeler , 2006 |
The northern or little giant mouse lemur ( Mirza zaza ) is a primate species from the lemur group . It was only in 2005 that researchers at the German Primate Center (DPZ) and the Georg-August University of Göttingen recognized that it is an independent species that can be distinguished from the southern giant mouse lemur ( M. coquereli ) . The species epithet zaza is the Malagasy word for “children” and was chosen because the species is the smaller of the two giant mouse lemurs. It is also intended to emphasize the responsibility of the generation of current children for the preservation of the Malagasy fauna for future generations.
features
Northern giant mouse lemurs reach a head-trunk length of 23 to 27 centimeters and a tail length of 26 to 29 centimeters. Their weight is 265 to 320 grams, making them slightly smaller than their southern relatives and having a shorter tail (31 to 32 cm in M. coquereli ). Their short fur is gray-brown on the upper side and on the head, sometimes a bit reddish, the underside is rather gray. The long, bushy tail becomes darker towards the tip. The head is rounded, the eyes are relatively large, the ears are shorter, more rounded and significantly smaller than those of their southern relatives.
distribution and habitat
Northern giant lemurs, like all lemurs, only occur on the island of Madagascar , where they inhabit the north-western parts of the country. The exact limits of its distribution area are not known, it extends from the Ampasindava peninsula over the Sambirano region possibly to the Tsingy de Namoroka National Park. Their habitat is predominantly dry forests, as well as subhumid forests and gallery forests , sometimes they can also be found in old banana plantations and in cashew plantations .
Way of life
These primates are nocturnal. During the day, several of them sleep in self-made nests made of twigs and leaves, at night they go in search of food alone, mostly moving through the branches on all fours. In contrast to the southern giant lemurs, they are sociable animals, often two to eight animals sleep together in one nest. The spherical nests have a diameter of up to half a meter and grow high in large trees (taller than 16 m and from 30 cm trunk diameter), densely covered with lianas, near the trunk, a few meters below the top of the tree made of branches, twigs, intertwined lianas and leaves erected. The animals make sure that the nests are well covered by the canopy of leaves, especially in the dry season. Northern giant lemurs are most commonly observed at heights of 5 to 10 meters above the ground, but they use the entire height profile of the trees and also go to the ground. Northern giant mouse lemurs are omnivores that feed on fruits, flowers, buds, other plant parts, plant saps , honeydew (especially that of butterfly cicadas (Flatidae)) and also small animals such as insects, spiders, frogs, as well as small chameleons and birds. In some areas, cashews are an important food during the dry season, which runs from June to July.
There are also differences in reproduction from its southern relatives. The mating sometimes takes place in July or August and thus a few months earlier than the southern giant mouse lemur and the species is likely to be more promiscuous . An indication of this are the large testicles of the males, which make up up to 5.5% of their body weight and which are the largest of all primates in relation to body size. Usually twins are born, and occasionally triplets. The interval between two births is about a year.
Danger
Within the entire range of the northern giant mouse lemur, only small areas are actually colonized by the species. The area in which the species actually occurs is less than 2000 km² in size, heavily fragmented and the smallest of these forest fragments too small for a long-term viable population. The dry forests in this area declined by 40% between 1975 and 2000. In the remaining habitat, however, the species occurs in a very high density of 385 to over 1000 specimens / km². This is probably mainly due to the good food supply from the mango and cashew trees introduced by humans . The IUCN lists the species as "critically endangered" ( Endangered ).
literature
- Christian Roos, Peter Kappeler: Distribution and Conservation Status of Two Newly Described Cheirogaleid Species, Mirza zaza and Microcebus lehilahytsara. Primate Conservation 21, 2006; Pp. 51-53. DOI: 10.1896 / 0898-6207.21.1.51
- 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 .
- Christoph Schwitzer, Russell A. Mittermeier, Edward E. Louis Jr & Matthew C. Richardson: Family Cheirogaleidae (Mouse, Giant Mouse, Dwarf and Fork-marked Lemurs). Page 59 in Russell A. Mittermeier , Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson : Handbook of the Mammals of the World: - Volume 3. Primates. Lynx Editions, 2013 ISBN 978-8496553897
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kappeler, P. M, RM Rasoloarison, L. Razafimanantsoa, L. Walter and C. Roos. 2005. Morphology, behavior and molecular evolution of giant mouse lemurs (Mirza spp.) Gray, 1870, with description of a new species. Primate Report, Jul 2005, 71: 3-26.
- ↑ a b c Schwitzer et al. (2013), page 59.
- ↑ Rode ‐ Margono, EJ; Nekaris, K .; Kappeler, PM; Schwitzer, C. (2015). The largest relative testis size among primates and aseasonal reproduction in a nocturnal lemur, Mirza zaza. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. doi: 10.1002 / ajpa.22773
- ↑ Mirza zaza in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . Retrieved July 7, 2015.
