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New species of Mouse lemur discovered in Madagascar

15/07/2008 09:17:43 news/Macarthurs_mouse_lemur

July 2008. A new species of Mouse lemur has been discovered on Madagascar, increasing the number of known species of Mouse lemurs to 16.

The small nocturnal Mouse lemur has been named ‘Microcebus macarthurii', or MacArthur's Mouse lemur. They were discovered by local scientists during a study of the fauna of the dense, evergreen mountain rain forests of the Makira region in the east of Madagascar. The new species was named after the MacArthur Foundation, who funded the project.

Distribution
So far MacArthur's Mouse lemur has only been found in the Makira region, so it is assumed that the distribution of the MacArthur's Mouse lemur is very limited, especially as several large rivers and a mountain chain cut through the region.

Small skin samples were taken from the animals for DNA testing by Dr. Ute Radespiel from the Institute of Zoology of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, who concluded that it was indded a new species.

Image of Macarthur's mouse lemur was taken by Dr. Blanchard Randrianambinina

Lemurs of Madagascar

Amazingly, when the first edition of this book was written, in 1994, only 50 species were known, but since then another 43 species and subspecies have been identified, and this book recognises a further 8 as a result of greater understanding of their systematics!

Anyone visiting Madagascar should take a copy of this book with them.

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