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. erectus post up tomorrow. In the meantime here are some really interesting stories.

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 forests, and bamboo forests.

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.