title: Discovery of sympatric dwarf lemur species in the high-altitude rain forest of Tsinjoarivo, Eastern Madagascar: implications for biogeography and conservation.
abstract: The number of species within the Malagasy lemur genus Cheirogaleus is currently under debate. Museum collections are spotty, and field work, supplemented by morphometric and genetic analysis, is essential for documenting geographic distributions, ecological characteristics and species boundaries. We report here field evidence for 2 dwarf lemur species at Tsinjoarivo, an eastern-central high-altitude rain forest: one, from a forest fragment, displaying coat and dental characteristics similar to C. sibreei (previously described only from museum specimens) and the other, from the continuous forest, resembling individuals of Cheirogaleus found today at Ranomafana National Park, further to the south. This study represents the first confirmation of a living population of grey-fawn, C.-sibreei-like, dwarf lemurs in Madagascar.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. mbblanco@anthro.umass.edu
authors.forename: Marina B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.forename: Laurie R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Godfrey
authors.forename: Mamihasimbola
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rakotondratsima
authors.forename: Vololonirina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rahalinarivo
authors.forename: Karen E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Samonds
authors.forename: Jean-Luc
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Raharison
authors.forename: Mitchell T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Irwin
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000886:Anthropometry; D016565:Cheirogaleidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D005836:Genitalia, Female / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008270:Madagascar; D009811:Odontometry; D013045:Species Specificity; D014070:Tooth / Q000033:anatomy & histology