Sibree's dwarf lemur (''Cheirogaleus sibreei'') is a small

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 ...

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 ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

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 ...

. The name of this

dwarf lemur The dwarf lemurs are the lemurs of the genus ''Cheirogaleus''. All of the species in this genus, like all other lemurs, are native to Madagascar. Description Measuring 19–27 cm in body length with a tail about 16–17 cm, they are ...

commemorates the English missionary and naturalist

James Sibree James Sibree (1836–1929) was an English missionary in Madagascar with an interest in the natural history and cultural history of the island. He was a contemporary of the French naturalist Alfred Grandidier and wrote detailed books about the f ...

(1836–1929). In 2010, a research team confirmed that they had found the only known living population of Sibree's dwarf lemurs several years before. The species was long believed extinct, following the destruction of its first recorded forest habitat. This was also the first confirmation of Sibree's dwarf lemur as a unique

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

. * Sibree's dwarf lemur spends the winter by

hibernating Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It most ...

10 to 40 cm underground in small burrows. This keeps body temperature steady at around 15 °C and possibly provides protection from predators.

References

Dwarf lemurs Endemic fauna of Madagascar Mammals of Madagascar Critically endangered fauna of Africa Mammals described in 1896 Taxa named by Charles Immanuel Forsyth Major {{lemur-stub