Scientists describe Lavasoa Dwarf Lemur as
new primate species
29 July 2013
investigated lemur populations in southern
Madagascar. Based on fieldwork and laboratory
analyses, they now identified a previously unknown
species of dwarf lemur.
The findings of the research project have recently
been published in the journal Molecular
Phylogenetics and Evolution.
"Together with Malagasy scientists, we have been
studying the diversity of lemurs for several years
now," said Dr. Andreas Hapke of the Institute of
Anthropology at Johannes Gutenberg University
Mainz (JGU). "It is only now that we were able to
determine that some of the animals examined
represent a previously unknown species." The
newly described Lavasoa Dwarf Lemur
(Cheirogaleus lavasoensis) inhabits three isolated
forest fragments in the extreme south of
Cheirogaleus lavasoensis, southern Madagascar. Hapke Madagascar. According to current knowledge, it
does not occur outside this area. The exact
and colleagues initially assigned this lemur to the
species Cheirogaleus crossleyi. New genetic analyses
population size is unknown. Preliminary estimates
now revealed that it represents a distinct species. Credit: indicate that there are less than 50 individuals
Andreas Hapke
remaining. The Lavasoa Dwarf Lemur is thus rare
and extremely endangered.
The island of Madagascar harbors a unique
biodiversity that evolved due to its long-lasting
isolation from other land masses. Numerous plant
and animal species are found solely on
Madagascar. Lemurs, a subgroup of primates, are
among the most prominent representatives of the
island's unique fauna. They are found almost
exclusively on Madagascar. The only exceptions
are two species of the genus Eulemur that also live
on the Comoros Islands, where they probably have
been introduced by humans. Thanks to extensive
field research over the past decades, numerous
previously unknown lemur species have been
discovered. Dwarf lemurs in turn received relatively
little attention to date and the diversity within this
genus is still not well known. Researchers of the
universities of Mainz and Antananarivo have
The lifestyle of dwarf lemurs makes them extremely
difficult to study as these nocturnal forest dwellers
often remain in the upper parts of the forest canopy
. Moreover, they hibernate for several months
during the austral winter. Their main period of
activity is the rainy season, when many of the
forests they inhabit are virtually inaccessible to
scientists. Nevertheless, the researchers were able
to carefully capture a total of 51 dwarf lemurs in live
traps at nine locations for this study and to take
minute tissue samples before releasing the animals
back into their natural habitat.
The tissue samples were subjected to moleculargenetic analyses at the Institute of Anthropology at
Mainz University. The data generated through the
process were then compared with data already
published by other research groups. "The new data
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from southern Madagascar enabled us to
significantly enlarge existing datasets," explained
Dana Thiele of the JGU Institute of Anthropology.
"We then used extensive data analyses to examine
the genetic diversity in two closely related lemur
genera, the mouse lemurs (Microcebus) and the
dwarf lemurs (Cheirogaleus). The comparison
showed that the species diversity of dwarf lemurs is
greater than previously thought."
Andreas Hapke and Refaly Ernest, working as a
local field assistant for the project, had discovered
the first individuals of the Lavasoa Dwarf Lemur
during a field study in Madagascar in 2001. Few
genetic data from other parts of the island were
available for comparison at that time. The animals
were thus initially assigned to an already known
species, Cheirogaleus crossleyi. Only now it was
possible to ascertain that the Lavasoa Dwarf Lemur
is a distinct species.
More information: Dana Thiele, Emilienne
Razafimahatratra, Andreas Hapke, Discrepant
partitioning of genetic diversity in mouse lemurs
and dwarf lemurs – biological reality or taxonomic
bias?, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
(2013) DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2013.07.019
Provided by Universitaet Mainz
APA citation: Scientists describe Lavasoa Dwarf Lemur as new primate species (2013, July 29) retrieved
17 June 2017 from https://phys.org/news/2013-07-scientists-lavasoa-dwarf-lemur-primate.html
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