White-footed weasel lemur

White-footed weasel lemur
White-footed weasel lemur ( Lepilemur leucopus )
Systematics
Order : Primates (Primates) Subordination : Wet-nose primates (Strepsirrhini) Partial order : Lemurs (Lemuriformes) Family : Weasel lemurs (Lepilemuridae) Genre : Weasel lemurs ( Lepilemur ) Type : White-footed weasel lemur
Scientific name
Lepilemur leucopus
Forsyth Major , 1894

The white-footed Wieselmaki ( Lepilemur leucopus ) is an on Madagascar living primate species from the group of lemurs within the lemurs .

features

White-footed weasel lemurs are the smallest weasel lemurs. They reach a head body length of 18 to 21 centimeters and a tail length of 23 to 25 centimeters. Their weight is 0.5 to 0.6 kilograms. Their fur is light gray on top, and the shoulders, upper arms and thighs can have a slight brown cast. The throat and belly are white-gray, this coloration can extend to the flanks. The round head is gray, behind the large, round ears are small, white tufts. The large eyes are surrounded by white-gray, glasses-like fields.

distribution and habitat

Distribution area

White-footed weasel lemurs inhabit the extreme south of Madagascar, their habitat are thorny savannahs with Didiereaceae and gallery forests .

Way of life

White-footed weasel lemurs, like all weasel lemurs, are nocturnal, during the day they sleep in tree hollows or in thickets of plants. They inhabit relatively small areas of 0.2 to 0.4 hectares in size. The territory is marked with calls for same-sex conspecifics, but the territory of a male can overlap with that of one or more females. Sometimes a male and a female use the same sleeping place, but they go foraging separately.

Their diet consists primarily of leaves. They make up for the low nutritional value of their food with long periods of inactivity, especially in the dry season .

Between October and November the female gives birth to a single young after a gestation period of around 130 days.

Danger

Due to the inaccuracy regarding the distribution area - numerous new species of weasel lemurs have been described in recent years - no precise information can be given about the degree of endangerment. The main danger is likely to be the destruction of their habitat by converting them into pastures. The IUCN lists the species under “too little data available” ( data deficient ).

literature

• Nick Garbutt: Mammals of Madagascar. A Complete Guide. Yale University Press, New Haven CT 2007, ISBN 978-0-300-12550-4 .
• Don E. Wilson (Ed.): Mammal Species of the World . Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .

Web links

Commons : White-footed weasel lemur ( Lepilemur leucopus )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Lepilemur leucopus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2009 Posted by: M. Hoffmann, 2008. Accessed on 5 November of 2009.