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- Title
Arboreal mouse lemurs discovered sleeping in a burrow on the ground.
- Authors
Ramananjato, Veronarindra; Randimbiarison, Finaritra; Rabarijaonina, Tanjoniaina Hery Nirina Patrick; Razafindratsima, Onja H.
- Abstract
Finding sleeping sites is important for the fitness of many mammal species. Like most nonhuman primates, Madagascar's mouse lemurs (genus: Microcebus) are thought to exclusively use arboreal sleeping sites. The rufous mouse lemurs (Microcebus rufus) in Ranomafana National Park (southeastern Madagascar) have always been documented to sleep in either tree holes or leaf nests. However, in our recent field expedition, we observed, with the help of telemetry technologies, an unprecedented event of M. rufus sleeping in a burrow on the rainforest ground, curled up with a very slow heartbeat. Thus far, such behavior has not been observed in any other Microcebus species but is common in high‐altitude dwarf lemurs (genus: Cheirogaleus), a closely related genus to the mouse lemurs. We believe that this discovery could illustrate an ecophysiological response strategy to habitat changes, which warrants further investigation.
- Subjects
MADAGASCAR; LEMURS; SLEEP; TREE cavities; MICE; PRIMATES
- Publication
Ecology & Evolution (20457758), 2022, Vol 12, Issue 12, p1
- ISSN
2045-7758
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1002/ece3.9543