Three new species of the genus Microcebus (mouse lemurs) have been discovered by an international team of scientists from the German Primate Center, the University of Kentucky, the American Duke Lemur Center and the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar.
The Ganzhorn’s mouse lemur (Microcebus ganzhorni). Image credit: Giuseppe Donati.
Mouse lemurs are small, nocturnal primates of the genus Microcebus. Like all other lemurs, they are native to the island-nation of Madagascar.
They have a combined head, body and tail length of less than 11 inches (27 cm) making them the most diminutive of the primates.
Recognized as two species 20 years ago, mouse lemurs now comprise 24 species, largely diagnosed from mtDNA sequence data.
The three newly-discovered Microcebus species are named M. ganzhorni, M. manitatra and M. boraha.
“Microcebus ganzhorni (or Ganzhorn’s mouse lemur) is named after the ecologist Prof. Jörg Ganzhorn from Hamburg University, who has been engaged in research and protection of lemurs for more than thirty years,” said team member Dr. Peter Kappeler, a researcher with the German Primate Center and co-author on a study published in the journal Molecular Ecology.
“It was Prof. Ganzhorn who initiated the field research of the German Primate Center in Madagascar in the 1990s.”
“The specific name of Microcebus manitatra symbolizes the expansion of the range of a subgroup from western Madagascar,” Dr. Kappeler said.
Microcebus boraha is named after its type location, the Island of Sainte Marie (in Malagasy Nosy Boraha).
“By using new, objective methods to assess genetic differences between individuals, we were able to find independent evidence that these three mouse lemurs represent new species,” Dr. Kappeler said.
“In addition, the analysis confirmed the status of the previously known 21 species,” he said.
“The genetic techniques we used could facilitate species identification, thus also contributing to further new descriptions in other animal groups.”
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Scott Hotaling et al. Species discovery and validation in a cryptic radiation of endangered primates: coalescent-based species delimitation in Madagascar’s mouse lemurs. Molecular Ecology, published online March 4, 2016; doi: 10.1111/mec.13604
