dwarf lemur
Cheirogaleidae latin

Greater dwarf lemurs live in forests and dry scrub areas.

Dwarf lemurs have an intermembral index of 71 on average.

Dwarf lemurs are the only primates known to hibernate for extended periods.

For years researchers wondered if the hairy-eared dwarf lemur still existed; they had never seen one alive.

Greater dwarf lemurs are not very vocal.

In 2010, a research team confirmed that they had found the only known living population of Sibree's dwarf lemurs several years before.

The head and body of the greater dwarf lemur can range from 167 to 264 millimeters in length, and 164 to 600 grams.

This was also the first confirmation of Sibree's dwarf lemur as a unique species.

Like most nocturnal prosimians, dwarf lemurs are reported as living solitary or in pairs.

The dwarf lemurs are the lemurs of the genus Cheirogaleus.

Dwarf lemurs roam the lower strata of the foliage in the coastal forests of eastern Madagascar.

Some species, such as the lesser dwarf lemur, store fat at the hind legs and the base of the tail, and hibernate.

Dwarf lemurs and mouse lemurs exhibit seasonal cycles of dormancy to conserve energy.

Family Cheirogaleidae: dwarf lemurs and mouse-lemurs (31 species)

Greater dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus major)

The greater dwarf lemur is an arboreal quadruped, it moves along the horizontal branches with a regular gait pattern involving all four limbs.

The name of this dwarf lemur commemorates the English missionary and naturalist James Sibree (1836-1929).

This species has 66 chromosomes, closely resembling the karyotype of the dwarf lemurs (genus Cheirogaleus).

The gray mouse lemur uses bouts of torpor, while the fat-tailed dwarf lemur hibernates completely.

Greater Dwarf Lemur (Cheirogaleus major)

Nocturnal lemurs such as mouse lemurs and dwarf lemurs, on the other hand, have retinas made up entirely of rod cells.

The greater dwarf lemur is preyed upon by the ring-tailed mongoose (Galidia elegans) during the dormant season.

The hairy-eared dwarf lemur (Allocebus trichotis) reportedly has a very long tongue, allowing it to feed on nectar.

Unlike any other hibernating mammal, the body temperature of hibernating dwarf lemurs will fluctuate with the ambient temperature rather than remaining low and stable.

Scientists in Germany have discovered that the fat-tailed dwarf lemur of Madagascar hibernates in holes in trees for about seven months of the year.

Like all other members of the family Cheirogaleidae, the gray mouse lemur is nocturnal and arboreal.

Family Cheirogaleidae: dwarf and mouse lemurs (32 species)

The Cheirogaleidae are the family of strepsirrhine primates containing the various dwarf and mouse lemurs.

The Marohita mouse lemur belongs to the genus Microcebus within the family Cheirogaleidae.

This results in Lemuridae being a sister group to Lepilemuridae, Cheirogaleidae, and Indriidae.

Using this analysis, Lepilemuridae becomes the sister group to Lemuridae, Cheirogaleidae, and Indriidae.

However, significant evidence suggests that Cheirogaleidae is not related to the lorises, and that Indridae is sister-group to Lemuridae.

Mouse, Giant Mouse, Dwarf, and Fork Marked Lemurs (Cheirogaleidae)

Bugtilemur is an extinct genus of Strepsirhine primate tentatively placed within family Cheirogaleidae, which includes the dwarf and mouse lemurs of Madagascar.

Other classifications split Strepsirrhini directly into four superfamilies: Daubentonioidea, Lemuroidea, Loroidea (including Cheirogaleidae) and Indroidea.

He placed all the lemurs together in a "series" Lemuriformes and recognized three families: Daubentoniidae, Indriidae, and Lemuridae (including the current Cheirogaleidae and Lepilemuridae).

Classifications in the first half of the 20th century divided lemurs into three families: Daubentoniidae, Indriidae, and Lemuridae, with the latter including the current Cheirogaleidae and Lepilemuridae.

Within Lemuriformes, it belongs to the family Cheirogaleidae, which contains the mouse lemurs, dwarf lemurs, giant mouse lemurs, fork-marked lemurs, and hairy-eared dwarf lemur.

Since the 1970s, the rafting hypothesis has been called into question by claims that lemur family Cheirogaleidae might be more closely related to the other Afro-Asian strepsirrhines than to the rest of the lemurs.

Because of concerns that Lemuridae might not be monophyletic, the family was later split; in 1982 Tattersall separated the Cheirogaleidae for the dwarf lemurs, mouse lemurs and relatives, and the Lepilemuridae for the sportive lemurs and bamboo lemurs (including the greater bamboo lemur).

Although all studies place Cheirogaleidae and Lepilemuridae as a sister clade to Indriidae and Lemuridae, some suggest that Cheirogaleidae and Lepilemuridae diverged first, while others suggest that Indriidae and Lemuridae were the first to branch off.