The mongoose lemur (''Eulemur mongoz'') is a small

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 ...

in the family

Lemur Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are Strepsirrhini, wet-nosed primates of the Superfamily (biology), superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 Family (biology), families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 exist ...

idae, native to

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

and introduced to the Comoros Islands. These arboreal animals have pointed faces, long, bushy tails, dark-brown upper parts, pale bellies, and beards, which are reddish in males and white in females. They live in family groups and feed primarily on fruit, but also eat leaves, flowers, and nectar, with nectar from the

kapok tree Kapok tree can refer to several plants Malvales with one exception with seeds that grow long hairs: *''Bombax ceiba'', an Asian tree with red flowers *''Calotropis procera'' (Asterid), a shrub with white and purple flowers, native to Asia and ...

making up a large part of their diet during the dry season. They have declined sharply in numbers because of

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

and hunting, and the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has rated their conservation status as " critically endangered".

Description

The mongoose lemur ranges in size from long plus a tail of . Both sexes are born with white beards, but become obviously dimorphic around six weeks of age when the males develop red beards and red cheeks. The males also have lighter faces than the females. Males may further distinguish themselves when scent-marking territory, as they occasionally develop a bald patch on top of their heads from rubbing. LemurMongozSmit

Distribution

The mongoose lemur lives in dry deciduous forests on the island of

and in the humid

forests A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

on the islands of the

Comoros The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...

. This makes the mongoose lemur one of only two lemurs found outside of Madagascar,Chicago Zoological Society - Brookfield Zoo's Mongoose Lemur page
though it is an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

in the Comoros.

Ecology

The mongoose lemur mostly eats fruit, though flowers, leaves, and nectar also make up part of its diet. As such, mongoose lemurs act as both pollinators and seed dispersers, but may use the nectar of the kapok tree for nearly 80% of their diet in some parts of their range during the dry season.Bristol Zoo - Mongoose Lemur
Feeding on grubs and beetles has also been observed. They are unusual among primates in that they are diurnal or

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

, depending on the season, being more active during the day in the wet season and changing activity to the night during the hotter dry season. Mongoose lemurs are

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the Animal locomotion, locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. Th ...

, with the ability to jump several meters from one tree to another. They live in small family groups, usually consisting of a bonded pair and one to three offspring. These groups rarely encounter one another, but when they do, they are aggressive. Young are born just prior to the rainy season, from August to October.

Gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregna ...

lasts about four months and weaning takes place around five months after the young are born. The offspring then usually stay with their parents until three years of age, when they have reached full maturity. Mongoose lemurs have seasonal habits. Their breeding, eating, and activity habits are largely shaped around the season. Seasonal fluctuations in food resource availability describe the behavior of mongoose lemurs such as female dominance and small group size. Mongoose lemurs usually conceive their offspring some time during October. They present as Nocturnal during the dry season and diurnal during the wet season.

Status

Captive mongoose lemurs can live up to 26 years, while wild specimens live 18–20 years. Mongoose lemurs in the wild are threatened by the destruction and fragmentation of the forests in which they live, and also by hunting. Their numbers have dwindled by about 80% over a period of 25 years, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated their conservation status as "critically endangered". Mongoose lemurs are more endangered in Madagascar, but there could be a way to conserve them in Comoros because of the increase of these species' population in the area. People should continue to work together and protect these critically endangered species.Nadhurou, B., Righini, R., Gamba, M., Laiolo, P., Ouledi, A., Giacoma, C. (2017). Effects of human disturbance on the mongoose lemur Eulemur mongoz in Comoros: implications and potential for the conservation of a Critically Endangered species. Oryx, 51(1), 60–67. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605315000897

References

External links

Animalinfo.org: Mongoose lemur

Rogerwilliamsparkzoo.org: Mongoose lemur
*
Duke Lemur Center
A research, conservation, and education facility
Lemur Conservation Foundation
A research, conservation, and education facility {{Taxonbar, from=Q543695 True lemurs Endemic fauna of Madagascar Mammals of Madagascar Critically endangered fauna of Africa Mammals described in 1766 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus