Greater Bamboo Lemur
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Prolemur simus (Gray, 1871) |
The Greater Bamboo Lemur (Prolemur simus) is a large, greyish brown lemur with white ear tufts. It feeds almost exclusively on Giant Bamboo, preferring the shoots but also eating the pith and leaves. It is not known how their metabolism deals with the cyanide found in the shoots; their typical daily dose would be enough to kill humans. Its only confirmed predator is the Fossa, but raptors are also suspected. Its range is only southeastern Madagascar.
The species may be the only lemur in which the male is dominant, although this is not definitively established. Males have been observed taking the pith away from females that have put significant effort into opening the bamboo stems.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ 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, 117. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
- ^ Conniff, Richard (April 2006). "For the Love of Lemurs". Smithsonian 37 (1): 102-109.
[edit] External links
- http://info.bio.sunysb.edu/rano.biodiv/Mammals/Hapalemur-simus/index.html
- http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Hapalemur_sinus/more_info.html
- http://www.animalinfo.org/species/primate/hapasimu.htm
 |
This primate-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
