Monday, August 11, 2014

Creature Feaure #296: Hairy-eared Dwarf Lemur

The tiny Hairy-eared Dwarf Lemur is one of the rarest primates in the world. As such, very little is known about her. Never common, she is found only in the  forested regions of northeast Madagascar. Until her re-discovery in 1989, she was considered extinct, only known from five museum specimens. Now the population is considered to be no more than 1,000 and possibly as few as 100 individuals. Like most Dwarf Lemurs she is nocturnal. Her diet consists of fruit, tree sap, leaves and insects. She appears to forage in small groups of two to six individuals. During the cooler seasons she becomes lethargic in her movements and will spend much of her time curled up in her nest of fresh leaves, built within tree holes.

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