2 decades ago, there only 2 known species of mouse lemurs. Thanks to new genetic profiling methods, that number has increased to 24. In Molecular Ecology, scientists with the German Primate Center (DPZ), the University of Kentucky, the American Duke Lemur Center, and Madagascar’s Université d’Antananarivo announced that they had identified 3 new lemur species in Madagascar.
Microebus ganzhorni was named after ecologist Professor Jorg Ganzhorn, who started the German Primate Center's field research in Madagascar in the 1990s.
Microcebus manitatra is found in the southeast of madagascar, and their name references the expansion of a subgroup from western madagascar.
Microcebus boraha is named after its location, which is on Nosy Boraha, an island off the coast of Madagascar that was originally called the Island of Saint Marie.
More than 100 of the lemur species are considered endangered according to the IUCN, so they are the most endangered group of mammals in the world.
The species is threatened mainly by deforestation, and Peter Kappeler, Head of the Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Unit of the DPZ, said, "Furthermore, this new information is an important element towards better understanding how biodiversity on Madagascar arose." They have been working on mapping the distribution of many of the lemur species so they can better protect the land to help save them.
blog post based on following article: https://news.mongabay.com/2016/04/three-new-mouse-lemurs-actually-primates-found-madagascar/
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