Pygmy Mouse Lemur

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Pygmy Mouse Lemur
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Primates Family: Cheirogaleidae Genus: Microcebus Species: M. myoxinus
Binomial name
Microcebus myoxinus Peters, 1852

The Pygmy Mouse Lemur (Microcebus myoxinus), also known as Peters' Mouse Lemur, is the smallest of the mouse lemurs and the smallest primate in the world, only weighing around 30 grams (roughly 1 ounce). Its dorsal side is a rufous-brown colour, and creamy-white ventrally. It lives in dry deciduous forests.

The Pygmy Mouse Lemur measures around 6.2 cm. Its small size and nocturnal nature made it difficult to locate for over a century, and was rediscovered in the Kirindy forest in western Madagascar in 1993. They are believed to inhabit other parts of the island, but so far have only been discovered in a localised area.

The lemur rests during the day, and it has a tendency to sleep in the open, which increases the risk of predation; although this danger is somewhat mitigated by sleeping alone. It can also use the abandoned nests of the Coquerel's Giant Mouse Lemur.

[edit] References

• Ganzhorn et al (2000). Microcebus myoxinus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 06 May 2006. Listed as Endangered (EN B1+2abc v2.3)
• 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, 113. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.