The Nosy Boraha mouse lemur (''Microcebus boraha'') is a species of

mouse lemur The mouse lemurs are nocturnal lemurs of the genus ''Microcebus''. Like all lemurs, mouse lemurs are native to Madagascar. Mouse lemurs have a combined head, body and tail length of less than , making them the smallest primates (the smallest spe ...

described in 2016 from Madagascar. It was discovered by a team of researchers at the

German Primate Center The German Primate Centre (German: Deutsches Primatenzentrum, DPZ, founded in 1977) is a non-profit independent research and service institute located in Göttingen. It is a member of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community and funded by ...

. It was initially discovered among closely related species such as

Madame Berthe's mouse lemur Madame Berthe's mouse lemur (''Microcebus berthae'') or Berthe's mouse lemur is the smallest of the mouse lemurs and the smallest primate in the world; the average body length is and seasonal weight is around . ''Microcebus berthae'' is one of ...

(already described in 2013),

Bemanasy mouse lemur The Bemanasy mouse lemur, ''Microcebus manitatra'', is a species of mouse lemur described in 2016 from Madagascar. It was discovered by a team of researchers at the German Primate Center. It was initially discovered among closely related species ...

, and

Ganzhorn's mouse lemur Ganzhorn's mouse lemur (''Microcebus ganzhorni'') is a species of lemur described in 2016. The discovery was made by researchers at the German Primate Center. It was discovered in Madagascar among closely related species such as Madame Berthe's m ...

. Morphological similarity made it impossible to identify them as distinct species. A genetic study was done in collaboration with scientists at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

, the

Duke Lemur Center The Duke Lemur Center is an sanctuary for rare and endangered strepsirrhine primates, located at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. It is the largest sanctuary for strepsirrhine primates in the world. The center is open to the public ...

and the

University of Antananarivo University of Antananarivo (french: Université d'Antananarivo) is the primary public university of Madagascar, located in the capital Antananarivo. History The university traces its founding to 16 December 1955 and the formation of the Instit ...

in Madagascar. The

mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...

sequencing revealed that the species was unique. The species is named after its natural habitat Malagasy Nosy Boraha on the Island of Sainte Marie.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q23938095 Mouse lemurs Mammals described in 2016 Mammals of Madagascar