The western dwarf galagos are a group of three species of

strepsirrhine Strepsirrhini or Strepsirhini (; ) is a suborder of primates that includes the lemuriform primates, which consist of the lemurs of Madagascar, galagos ("bushbabies") and pottos from Africa, and the lorises from India and southeast Asia. Collec ...

primate Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians (monkeys and apes, the latter including huma ...

s, native to western and central

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. They are classified in the genus ''Galagoides'' of the family

Galagidae Galagos , also known as bush babies, or ''nagapies'' (meaning "night monkeys" in Afrikaans), are small nocturnal primates native to continental, sub-Sahara Africa, and make up the family Galagidae (also sometimes called Galagonidae). They are ...

. The eastern dwarf galagos (''P. cocos, P. granti, P. orinus, P. rondoensis,'' and ''P. zanzibaricus'') have been moved to their own genus, ''

Paragalago The eastern dwarf galagos are a group of seven species of strepsirrhine primates of the family Galagidae, native to East Africa. They were formerly classified in the genus ''Galagoides'' but have been moved to their own genus, ''Paragalago'', bas ...

'', based on genetic evidence and differences in vocalization. The two genera are not

sister taxa In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

and thus may have evolved their small sizes via

parallel evolution Parallel evolution is the similar development of a trait in distinct species that are not closely related, but share a similar original trait in response to similar evolutionary pressure.Zhang, J. and Kumar, S. 1997Detection of convergent and paral ...

. They are separated by the

East African Rift The East African Rift (EAR) or East African Rift System (EARS) is an active continental rift zone in East Africa. The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22–25 million years ago. In the past it was considered to be part of a ...

. The first genus to be introduced to scientific literature was ''

Galago Galagos , also known as bush babies, or ''nagapies'' (meaning "night monkeys" in Afrikaans), are small nocturnal primates native to continental, sub-Sahara Africa, and make up the family Galagidae (also sometimes called Galagonidae). They ar ...

'' by Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. The genus was based on a smaller species from West Africa. Later, the genus ''Galagoides'' was introduced by Sir Andrew Smith in 1833. Smith wanted to differentiate the dwarf (''Gd. demidovii'') and the lesser galagos from the 'true galagos.' ''

Otolemur The greater galagos or thick-tailed bushbabies are three species of strepsirrhine primates. They are classified in the genus ''Otolemur'' in the family Galagidae. Historical classification and species discovery The diversity of galago species h ...

'' was later introduced to indicate the greater galagos by Coquerel in 1859. Before the 21st century, three new dwarf galagos were recognized as species.

''Galagoides'' species

Prince Demidoff's bushbaby Prince Demidoff's bushbaby (''Galagoides demidovii''), also known as Prince Demidoff's galago, is a species of primate in the family Galagidae. It is native to parts of tropical West and Central Africa. Description Prince Demidoff's bushbaby gro ...

— ''Gs. demidovii'' *

Angolan dwarf galago The Angolan dwarf galago (''Galagoides kumbirensis'') is a species of dwarf galago native to Angola, and was named after western Angolan Kumbira Forest Kumbira Forest is a forest in Angola that is notable for its large variety of birds, includin ...

— ''Gs. kumbirensis'' *

Thomas's bushbaby Thomas's bushbaby (''Galagoides thomasi'') is a species of primate in the family Galagidae. It is found in Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zam ...

— ''Gs. thomasi''

References

External links

Galagidae Galagos Primates of Africa Taxa named by Andrew Smith (zoologist) Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa described in 1833 {{primate-stub