May 13, 2013
Twycross Zoo’s Baby Crowned Lemur Snacks On A Little Grass

Keepers at Twycross Zoo are celebrating the arrival of a baby Crowned Lemur, born on April 11. Experienced mom Rose is doing a superb job. Infants are initially carried on the mother’s front but as they grow heavier they are moved onto her back. The father takes and active role in parenting as well. Tony Dobbs, Section Head of Primates, said: “The baby arrived a few days earlier than we had expected but both mum and baby are doing very well. While Rose is looking after the newborn, the father, Rik, has taken on the role of the proud, protective father.”

In the wild the Crowned Lemur is confined to a small patch of forest in Madagascar and listed on the IUCN Red List  as Vulnerable. There their population is decreasing because their habitat is in rapid decline principally due to heavy mining, illegal logging and hunting for food.

From zooborns.com

6:03pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z8EaJxkv73Wp
(Notes: 1)
  
Filed under: primate lemur prosimian animal baby cute zoo twycross 
December 4, 2012
Lemur Love: How Daughters Avoid Mating With Dad

Tiny nocturnal lemurs recognize their dad’s cries amid the other sounds of the nighttime Madagascar forests, a new study finds. The research is the first to show that solitary animals may avoid inbreeding by keeping an ear out for familiar voices.

Previous studies have found that animals living in complex social groups have no trouble recognizing their own kin’s calls, particularly the sounds of maternal relatives. Even goat mamas keep a long-term memory for their baby’s calls, according to a study published earlier this year.

But less is known about how animals recognize their father’s calls, and the cries of the relatives on dad’s side of the family. Likewise, researchers know very little about how solitary-living animals avoid inbreeding with dad’s side of the family.

That’s where the gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus) comes in. These cartoonishly cute lemurs are raised by their mothers without help from dad. When they grow up, they head out of the nest to forage on their own. But male lemurs’ ranges are large, and they often overlap with that of their daughters’, suggesting the primitive primates have evolved some way to avoid accidentally mating with a relative.

To find out how, researchers led by Arizona State University’s Sharon Kessler played male mating calls and alarm cries for 10 adult female gray mouse lemurs housed at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hannover, Germany. Each lemur heard her father’s cries as well as an unrelated male’s. The researchers recorded how attentive the lemurs were to each call. For example, an interested lemur might stare at or run over to the speaker playing the call.

The female lemurs paid equal attention to alarm calls from fathers and unrelated males, the researchers report in an upcoming issue of the journal BMC Ecology. But when it came to mating calls, lady lemurs perked up much more at unrelated male’s calls. Compared to when they heard a father’s cry, the lemurs approached the non-kin speakers faster, sooner and stayed longer looking for the source of the sound.

The take-away, Kessler and her colleagues wrote, is that recognizing dad’s voice requires neither a big brain nor a complex social life. In fact, ability to recognize kin may have preceded complex social structures in evolutionary history.

From livescience.com

9:44am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z8EaJxYe4V2P
(Notes: 13)
  
Filed under: Lemur Mouse Lemur Primate Prosimian Mating Call Communication Animal Science 
October 31, 2012
allcreatures: Colin the Red Ruffed Lemur sticks his arm into pumpkin guts at the Bristol Zoo in Bristol, England. Photo: Andrew Matthews, Associated Press / SF (via Day in Pictures, Oct. 25, 2012 - SFGate)

allcreatures:

Colin the Red Ruffed Lemur sticks his arm into pumpkin guts at the Bristol Zoo in Bristol, England.

Photo: Andrew Matthews, Associated Press / SF (via Day in Pictures, Oct. 25, 2012 - SFGate)

8:50pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z8EaJxWLPjoo
(Notes: 220)
  
Filed under: primate prosimian lemur halloween animal pumpkin 
September 27, 2012

rhamphotheca:

Toothcomb (also dental comb)

… a dental structure found in some mammals, comprising a group of front teeth arranged in a manner that facilitates grooming, similar to a hair comb. The toothcomb occurs in lemuriform primates (which includes lemurs and lorisoids), treeshrews, colugos, hyraxes and some African antelopes.

The structures evolved independently in different types of mammals through convergent evolution and vary both in dental composition and structure. In most mammals the comb is formed by a group of teeth with fine spaces between them. The toothcombs in most mammals include incisors only, while in lemuriform primates they include incisors and canine teeth that tilt forward at the front of the lower jaw, followed by a canine-shaped first premolar. The toothcombs of colugos and hyraxes take a different form with the individual incisors being serrated, providing multiple tines per tooth…

(read more: Wikipedia)          (image: Frederic Wood Jones, 1918)

9:40pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z8EaJxUBs3Vw
(Notes: 60)
  
Filed under: primate animal science anthropology lemur loris prosimian 
September 10, 2012

The infuriating moment when Yahoo calls a Loris a monkey, and then there are such comments as, “A Loris is not a monkey, it is a primate!” Sigh. 

Even so, this whole story is disgusting. The man had two, and dumped one in a bin to die when he realised he couldn’t fit both down his trousers… Destined for the pet trade. 

11:31pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z8EaJxT9JQu5
(Notes: 4)
  
Filed under: Animal Cruelty Loris Primate Prosimian Smuggling Pet 
July 9, 2012
Welcome to Baby Mouse Lemur Season!

The Duke Lemur Center is smack-dab in the middle of baby Mouse Lemur season with seven little ones, born to four mothers, in the month of June alone. Four more Mouse Lemur females are pregnant so there are more of these feisty little guys on the way. The first photo shows a set of frantic Mouse Lemur triplets who arrived on June 5th. The second photo and video show a much calmer singleton. 

Gray Mouse Lemurs weigh only about 1/8th of a pound as adults and leap between thin branches in the treetops. While they hunt alone at night, by day they curl up in tree holes with up to fifteen other Mouse Lemurs to sleep in a furry heap. There are seventeen different species of Mouse Lemur, but they all look nearly the same, making research challenging. Only through genetic testing can scientists be sure of what species they are observing.

From Zoo Borns

11:34pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z8EaJxP10kK8
(Notes: 18)
  
Filed under: primate prosimian lemur mouse lemur baby cute 
June 27, 2012
The Mysterious Brain Of The Fat-Tailed Dwarf Lemur, The World’s Only Hibernating Primate

In the 18th century Carl Linnaeus named them lemurs, after the Latin lemures—spirits of the dead, wandering ghosts. He knew the primates roamed Madagascar’s forests at night, their large eyes brimming with moonlight, their shrill cries crashing through the treetops. One of the smallest lemurs on the island, the fat-tailed dwarf lemur, resembled a phantom in another way: it completely vanished for seven months each year.

For a long time, no one understood where the fat-tailed dwarf lemur went—a remote part of the island? the spirit world?—or what it was doing all that time, but scientists had a hunch. Perhaps the lemur was hibernating. If so, it would be the only primate in the world—and one of the only tropical mammals—to do so. Given Madagascar’s climate, however, it made sense that a lemur might hibernate to survive annual periods of drought.

In general, Madagascar has two seasons: the hot, wet season from November to April, and the cooler, dry season from April through October. The deciduous forests on the west coast, where many fat-tailed dwarf lemurs live, offer no open sources of water during the dry season and only fibrous fruits bereft of sugar. Perhaps, scientists reasoned, the fat-tailed dwarf lemur hunkered down and waited for the rains to return, slowing its metabolism and dropping its body temperature. It could survive off of nutrients stored in its tail, which always grew plumper as the dry season drew closer.

In 1993 Kathrin Dausmann of the University of Hamburg and her colleagues finally put the hibernation hypothesis to the test. Between 1993 and 2003, the researchers regularly traveled to the forest of Kirindy on the west coast of Madagascar, where they captured 53 fat-tailed dwarf lemurs (Cheirogaleus medius). They tagged all the lemurs with radio transmitters to track their location and implanted six of the primates with small temperature sensors.

Around April, the lemurs disappeared as usual, but they were not really gone—just out of sight. The radio transmitters revealed their hiding spots—nests within tree hollows—and the temperature sensors confirmed that the primates were in fact hibernating during the dry season. The lemurs’ approach to hibernation, however, was unusual.

Read More at Scientific American

10:03pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z8EaJxOF5iOJ
(Notes: 10)
  
Filed under: Lemur Primate Prosimian Fat Tailed Dwarf Lemur Hibernation Hibernating 
June 14, 2012
rhamphotheca: Cannibalism Seen in Gray Mouse Lemurs by Charles Q. Choi The gray mouse lemur has something in common with us—and it’s not something good. Researchers trekking through the forests of western Madagascar looking for a radio-tagged female of the species (Microcebus murinus) have found a male dining on her flesh (shown above). The cause of the female’s death is a mystery, since all of her vital organs were missing. This lemur was not previously known to eat other mammals, much less practice cannibalism. What’s more, although cannibalism has been observed in a variety of primates, including chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, several monkeys, and perhaps even gorillas, all known victims of such cannibals have been infants or juveniles. Except, that is, in humans. The findings, reported in an upcoming issue of the American Journal of Primatology, suggest that nonhuman primate cannibalism is not limited to infants and juveniles. At the very least, the menu of the gray mouse lemur—one of the world’s smallest primate species—is much larger than previously thought. (via: Science NOW)       (image: Anni Hämäläinen)

rhamphotheca:

Cannibalism Seen in Gray Mouse Lemurs

by Charles Q. Choi

The gray mouse lemur has something in common with us—and it’s not something good. Researchers trekking through the forests of western Madagascar looking for a radio-tagged female of the species (Microcebus murinus) have found a male dining on her flesh (shown above). The cause of the female’s death is a mystery, since all of her vital organs were missing.

This lemur was not previously known to eat other mammals, much less practice cannibalism. What’s more, although cannibalism has been observed in a variety of primates, including chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutans, several monkeys, and perhaps even gorillas, all known victims of such cannibals have been infants or juveniles. Except, that is, in humans.

The findings, reported in an upcoming issue of the American Journal of Primatology, suggest that nonhuman primate cannibalism is not limited to infants and juveniles. At the very least, the menu of the gray mouse lemur—one of the world’s smallest primate species—is much larger than previously thought.

(via: Science NOW)       (image: Anni Hämäläinen)

10:01am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z8EaJxNN23OT
(Notes: 109)
  
Filed under: Primate Prosimian Lemur Cannibalism Diet 
May 7, 2012
Pygmy Slow Loris No Fan Of The Moon

Pygmy slow loris’ tend to be less active on cool nights when the moon is bright according to research.

Researchers reported in the online journal PLoS One that they found pygmy slow lorises to be less active on bright moonlit nights, possibly as a means of avoiding predators.

“The most plausible explanation is that on bright cold nights the combined risk of being seen and attacked by predators and heat loss outweigh the benefit of active behaviours,” according to the research.

The scientists observing the primates found that this was particularly marked in the cool dry season, as otherwise the lorises could use the fuller foliage of the wet season to hide and thus weren’t all that disturbed by the moon.

“The lunar phobic behaviour observed is possibly seasonal and the pygmy loris may be more active on bright nights during the wet season when temperatures are higher and the forest provides denser vegetation cover,” according to the research.

“It has been suggested that highly insectivorous nocturnal primates will be more lunar philic (moon loving) because moonlight improves their hunting success,” the researchers say.

“Although animals in our site were frequently observed to catch and consume arthropods, and a high proportion of invertebrates were found in scats throughout the study period, our data did not indicate that this resource was important enough to select for lunar philia in the local population at the site,” the scientists report.

From timeslive.co.za

5:45pm  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z8EaJxL2dV53
(Notes: 3)
  
Filed under: Slow Loris Loris Pygmy Slow Loris Lunar Moon Phobic Primate Prosimian Predator Prey Nocturnal 
April 4, 2012
Loris Trade Not So Slow

Despite global efforts to halt the growing demand for slow lorises as exotic pets, the primates continue to be offered for sale, with 50 individuals found in Jakarta’s animal markets over the past fortnight.

Although totally protected under Indonesian law, slow lorises were also observed for sale in shopping malls and at a flora and fauna exhibition, designed to raise awareness of Indonesia’s rich biodiversity.

Only a week ago, 30 were seen on sale during a single visit to Jati Negara market, where slow lorises are openly sold on a daily basis.

Ranking high on the cute-and-cuddly scale, slow lorises have long been in demand as exotic pets. The problem gained international prominence after a 2009 YouTube video of a slow loris being tickled went viral. 

Several international and local groups have subsequently launched online campaigns petitioning for the removal of such videos. 

A recent BBC documentary on the Slow Loris of Indonesia fronts a renewed call to educate consumers and end the illegal trade in the animals.

Nevertheless, slow lorises are still a common sight in wildlife markets in some Southeast Asian countries, particularly those in Indonesia, where markets such as Jati Negara are found in most major centres. 

Other markets in Jakarta, such as the well known Pramuka Market, are also major centres for illegal wildlife trade.

“The authorities need to clean up these markets and Indonesia’s reputation as a major centre of illegal wildlife trade,” says Chris R. Shepherd, Deputy Regional Director of TRAFFIC Southeast Asia.

“The openness of the slow loris trade highlights the fact that having one of the region’s best wildlife protection laws and promising to protect species is not enough—there must be stronger enforcement in Indonesia and the public should stop supporting the illegal wildlife trade,” says Shepherd.

There are three slow loris species in Indonesia and trade is a major threat to all. The Greater Slow Loris Nycticebus coucang and the Bornean Slow Loris N. menagensis are listed by the IUCN Red List as Vulnerable, and the Javan Slow Loris N. javanicus, is listed as Endangered.  

“Indonesia has an amazing array of unique wildlife and it is time real action is taken to protect it,” says Shepherd.

11:31am  |   URL: http://tmblr.co/Z8EaJxJ3aNFo
(Notes: 6)
  
Filed under: Primate Prosimian Pet Trade Pets Illegal