Western woolly lemur
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Western woolly lemur ( Avahi occidentalis ) |
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| Avahi occidentalis | ||||||||||||
| Lorenz von Liburnau , 1898 |
The western woolly lemur ( Avahi occidentalis ) is a primate species from the lemur group . The northwestern woolly lemur and the Cleese woolly lemur were recently separated as separate species.
features
Western woolly lemurs reach a head body length of 25 to 30 centimeters, the tail measures 31 to 37 centimeters and the weight is 0.7 to 1.0 kilograms. Their fur is dense and woolly, it is sandy brown to olive brown on the upper side, the sparsely hairy underside is beige to light gray in color. The bushy tail is colored gray. The round face is made up of short white or light gray hair and thus forms a clear contrast to the thickly hairy top of the head. The ears are small and inconspicuous, while the brown eyes are large and surrounded by thick dark circles. The short snout is colored black.
distribution and habitat
Like all lemurs, western woolly lemurs only occur in Madagascar . Their habitat are the dry forests in the northwest of the island, the exact dimensions are also controversial due to the separation of the new species.
Way of life
These primates are nocturnal tree dwellers who live in family groups. During the day they sleep huddled together in the thicket of leaves, around 3 to 13 meters above the ground. At night they go in search of food, while moving vertically climbing and jumping. Unlike many other nocturnal lemurs, the group members stay together during the night. They are vocal animals that seek contact with one another with purring sounds. Groups inhabit fixed territories with 1 to 2 hectares, the loud screams make other groups aware of their own territory. The groups are composed of a monogamous couple, who often stay together for years, and their offspring.
The diet of the western woolly lemurs consists mainly of leaves, to a small extent they eat flowers and buds.
The mating takes place in April or May, in September or October a single young is usually born. The boy first clings to the mother's belly, later it rides on her back. After one to two years, it leaves its birth group.
Danger
The distribution area of the western woolly lemurs covers less than 5000 km², it is heavily fragmented and is being further decimated by slash and burn. 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
- Avahi occidentalis onthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . Retrieved April 22, 2009.