- Bemaraha woolly lemur
-
Bemaraha woolly lemur Conservation status Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Primates Family: Indriidae Genus: Avahi Species: A. cleesei Binomial name Avahi cleesei
Thalmann & Geissmann, 2005Bemaraha woolly lemur range The Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei), also known as Cleese's woolly lemur, is a species of woolly lemur native to western Madagascar, named after John Cleese. The scientist who discovered the species named it after Cleese, star of Monty Python, mainly because of Cleese's fondness for lemurs, as shown in Operation Lemur With John Cleese and Fierce Creatures, and his efforts at protecting and preserving them. The species was first discovered in 1990 by a team of scientists from Zurich University led by Urs Thalmann, but wasn't formally described as a species until November 11, 2005.
The diurnal animal weighs about 5–6 kilograms (11–13 lb), has brown skin with white regions on the rear and inside of the thighs and has a short damp nose, large plate eyes, and ears which hardly stand out from the skin. It typically has a strictly vegetarian diet of leaves and buds, living together in small families. The local population calls the species dadintsifaky, which means "Grandfather of the Sifaka", because it is similarly sized to sifakas, but more ponderous, heavyset and has ample greyish-brown fur.
The habitat is limited to the Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve in western Madagascar, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The animal is probably threatened with becoming extinct in the long run, since the size of the population is unknown so far and its habitat shrinks continuously.
References
- ^ Thalmann, U., Geissmann, T. & Hoffmann, M. (2008). Avahi cleesei. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 1 January 2009.
- Thalmann, Urs & Geissmann, Thomas (2005): New species of woolly lemur Avahi (Primates: Lemuriformes) in Bemaraha (Central Western Madagascar). American Journal of Primatology 67: 371–376. PDF fulltext
External links
- BBC News report on the finding
- New Scientist article
- Endangered lemurs get Fawlty name
- Report with photo
This lemur-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.