Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemur

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Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemur[1]

Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Lemuridae
Genus: Hapalemur
Species: H. alaotrensis
Binomial name
Hapalemur alaotrensis
(Rumpler, 1975)

The Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemur (Hapalemur alaotrensis), also known as the Alaotran Gentle Lemur or locally as the Bandro, is a bamboo lemur. It is endemic to the reed beds in and around Lac Alaotra, in northeast Madagascar. The Alaotran Lemur is the only primate specifically adapted to living in papyrus reeds. Unlike other bamboo lemurs, the Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemur does not eat bamboo, instead, it feeds on the papyrus reeds of its habitat.[citation needed]

Its tail and body are both 40 cm on average, and weighs between 1.1 and 1.4 kg, with males slightly larger than females.[3] Its dense woolly fur is a gray-brown on its back, lighter gray on its face and chest, with its head and neck chestnut brown.[3]

The classification of the Bandro is disputed, with some classifying it as a subspecies of Hapalemur griseus,[2] while others see it as a separate species.[1] Current genetic data do not support species status.[4] Mitochondial DNA sequences from the two populations H. g. griseus and H. g. alaotrensis are interspersed with each other on the phylogentic tree.[5] Moreover, average genetic distances between the two subspecies are within the range of within-taxon comparisons and not in the range of between-taxon comparisons. A final assessment of species versus subspecies status requires to fill-in gaps in sampling and use of nuclear loci. GenBank, the universal repository for genetic sequence information, has not accepted the species status of the Aloatran Lemur and lists it as a subspecies[6].

The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust has a Lac Alaotra Gentle Lemur conservation program.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Groves, Colin (16 November 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 116. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. 
  2. ^ a b Ganzhorn, J. & Members of the Primate Specialist Group (2000). Hapalemur griseus ssp. alaotrensis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
  3. ^ a b Mittermeier, Russell A., Konstant, William R., Hawkins, Frank , Louis, Edward E., and Langrand, Olivier (2006). Lemurs of Madagascar, 2nd edition, Conservation International, 222-225. Retrieved on 2006-10-29. 
  4. ^ Pastorini, J., Forstner, M. R. J. and Martin, R. D. 2002. Phylogenetic relationships of gentle lemurs (Hapalemur). Evolutionary Anthropology 11, 150-154.
  5. ^ Figure 1 of Pastorini, J., Forstner, M. R. J. and Martin, R. D. 2002. Phylogenetic relationships of gentle lemurs (Hapalemur). Evolutionary Anthropology 11, 150-154
  6. ^ NCBI taxonomy database: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi
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