Know Your Primate: Archaeolemur majori

Order: Primates Suborder: Strepsirrhini Infraorder: Lemuriformes Family: Archaeolemuridae Genus: Archaeolemur Species: Archaeolemur majori Archaeolemurs are extinct lemurs from the island of Madagascar. They were quadrupedal frugivores that exploited both terrestrial and aboreal environments. (Picture source: Tattersall 1973 Cranial Anatomy Of The Archaeolemurinae (Lemouroidea, Primates), Anthropological Papers of the AMNH, Vol 52, Part I)

Know Your Primate:Varecia variegata

In honor of those who have delurked here is another installment of my long neglected Know Your Primate series.

Know Your Primate Returns: Pseudopotto martini

After a lengthy hiatus I am resurrecting Know Your Primate. Hopefully it will appear every Saturday like clockwork (yes I know, today is Sunday).

Cool Science News: Pygmy Tarsiers and Fossil Lemurs

I was planning on writing about the new Homo erectus pelvis but when I got home I discovered a crisis – Firefox gave me error messages and wouldn’t open (which meant no bookmarks and hence no access to anything important like this blog). Spent about an hour getting that straightened out. I’ll get the H. [...]

Know Your Primate: Avahi cleesei

Order: Primates Suborder: Strepsirrhini Family: Indriidae Genus: Avahi Species: Avahi Cleesei Long time readers of Seed should be familiar with this woolly lemur. It was discovered in 1990, but was not described and named, for a variety of reasons, until 2005. The species was named after John Cleese (more on that below).

Saturday Know Your Primate: Hapalemur griseus

Order: Primates Suborder: Strepsirrhini Family: Lemuridae Genus: Hapalemur Species: Hapalemur griseus Common: Gentle Bamboo Lemur According to Walker’s Primates of the World there are three species in the genus Hapalemur, however the ADW lists four.

Know Your Primate: Lepilemur mustelinus

Order: Primates Suborder: Strepsirrhini Family: Lepilemuridae Genus: Lepilemur Species: Lepilemur mustelinus Common Name: Weasel or Sportive Lemur The genus Lepilemur contains anywhere from one to eight species – depending on who you talk to. Sportive lemurs live in deciduous forests in Madagascar and are nocturnal and folivorous.

Know Your Primate: Nycticebus coucang

Order: Primates Suborder: Strepsirrhini Family: Lorisidae Genus: Nycticebus Species: Nycticebus coucang Common Name: Slow Loris Nycticebus is a genus containing two allopatric species (Nycticebus coucang and Nycticebus pygmaeus). The slow loris is native to parts of Bangladesh, Assam, Burma, Vietnam, Thailand, parts of Malay peninsula, and parts of the Philippines. They occupy primary and secondary [...]

Know Your Primate: Lemur catta

Order: Primates Suborder: Strepsirrhini Family: Lemuridae Genus: Lemur Species: Lemur catta Common name: Ring-Tailed Lemurs I must confess that I have a fondness for the lemurs – especially the ring-tailed lemurs.

Know Your Primate: Galago demidoff

Order: Primates Suborder: Strepsirrhini Family: Galagidae Genus: Galago Species: Galago demidoff Common Name: Dwarf Galago The dwarf galago resides in Africa. It ranges from southern Somalia to northern Tanzania and from Senegal to western Tanzania.

Know Your Primate: Hairy-eared Dwarf Lemur

Order: Primates Suborder: Strepsirrhini Family: Cheirogaleidae Genus: Allocebus Species: Allocebus trichotis Common Name: Hairy-eared Dwarf Lemur Administrative Note: Before discussing this week’s primate I would like to mention that the hairy-eared dwarf lemur is the 30th primate covered in this series. Eight of the thirty have been fossils and the remaining twenty-two have been, more [...]

Know Your Primate: Phaner furcifer

Order: Primates Suborder: Strepsirrhini Family: Cheirogaleidae Genus: Phaner Species: Phaner furcifer Common Name: Fork-marked lemur Within the genus Phaner there are four subspecies: Phaner electromontis (Amber Mountain fork-crowned lemur), Phaner furcifer (forked-marked dwarf lemur), Phaner pallescens (western fork-crowned lemur) and Phaner parienti (Sambirano fork-crowned lemur)

Know Your Primate: Notharctus

Infraorder: Lemuriformes Family: Adapidae Subfamily: Notharctinae Genera: Notharctus Species: N. robinsoni, N. tenebrosus, N. pugnax, and N. robustior Notharctus is an Eocene genera of primates found only in North America. Notharctus forms a single evolving lineage with the earlier Cantius and Pelycodus, consequently it can be hard to tell where Cantius leaves off and Notharctus [...]

Know Your Primate: Pachylemur insignis

Superfamily: Lemuroidea Family: Lemuridae Subfamily: Lemurianae Genus: Pachylemur Species: Pachylemur insignis The genus Pachylemur is, at present, composed of two species; Pachylemur insignis and Pachylemur jullyi .

Know Your Primate: Diademed Sifaka

Order: Primates Infraorder: Lemuriformes Family: Indriidae Subfamily: Indriinae Genus: Propithecus Species: Propithecus diadema Common Name: Diademed Sifaka The Indriinae are composed of eight genera, of which four are extinct. The genus Propithecus contains three species, with Propithecus diadema being the larger. Currently, Propithecus diadema is divided into four subspecies: Propithecus diadema diadema, Propithecus diadema edwardsi, [...]