Masoala fork-marked lemur

Masoala fork-marked lemur[1]
A lithograph from Brehms Tierleben (1860)
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Cheirogaleidae
Genus: Phaner
Species: P. furcifer
Binomial name
Phaner furcifer
Blainville, 1839
Masoala fork-marked lemur range

The Masoala fork-marked lemur (Phaner furcifer), also known as the eastern fork-marked lemur or Masoala fork-crowned lemur, is found in the coastal forests of northern and western Madagascar.

Phaner furcifer subsists on a diet consisting mainly of the gum of trees in temperate deciduous forests. It has become specialized for harvesting this substance. Like most prosimians, it has a "dental comb," which is used to scrape the gum that oozes from insect holes in a tree's surface. This structure consists of a row of lower teeth that are long and forward pointing.[3]

The female experiences estrous for only 3 to 4 days of the entire year, typically in June. She gives birth to a single offspring in November or December. The offspring initially lives in the tree hole of the parents, then is carried by the mother, first ventrally, then dorsally.[3]

References

  1. ^ Groves, C. (2005). Wilson, D. E., & Reeder, D. M, eds. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 114. OCLC 62265494. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=12100029. 
  2. ^ Andrainarivo, C., Andriaholinirina, V. N., Feistner, A., Felix, T., Ganzhorn, J., Garbutt, N., Golden, C., Konstant, B., Louis Jr., E., Meyers, D., Mittermeier, R. A., Perieras, A., Princee, F., Rabarivola, J. C., Rakotosamimanana, B., Rasamimanana, H., Ratsimbazafy, J., Raveloarinoro, G., Razafimanantsoa, A., Rumpler, Y., Schwitzer, C., Thalmann, U., Wilmé, L. & Wright, P. (2008). Phaner furcifer. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 1 January 2009.
  3. ^ a b Nowak, R. (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World (6th edition ed.). Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.