Eastern lesser bamboo lemur

Eastern lesser bamboo lemur
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)
CITES Appendix I (CITES)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Strepsirrhini
Family:	Lemuridae
Genus:	Hapalemur
Species:	H. griseus
Binomial name
Hapalemur griseus Link, 1795
Subspecies
H. g. griseus (Link, 1795) H. g. gilberti (Rabarivol et al, 2007) H. g. ranomafanensis (Rabarivol et al, 2007)
Distribution of H. griseus
Synonyms
cinereus Desmarest, 1820 olivaceus I. Geoffroy, 1851 schlegeli Pocock, 1917

The eastern lesser bamboo lemur (Hapalemur griseus), also known as the gray bamboo lemur and the gray gentle lemur, is a small lemur endemic to Madagascar, with three known subspecies. As its name suggests, the eastern lesser bamboo lemur feeds mainly on bamboo. The lemurs of the genus Hapalemur have more manual dexterity and hand–eye coordination than most lemurs. They are vertical climbers and jump from stalk to stalk in thick bamboo forests.

The eastern lesser bamboo lemur is gray in colour, sometimes with a red patch on its head. It averages 284 mm in length with a tail of 36.6 mm.

Subspecies

Range of the three subspecies:

red = H. g. griseus

green = H. g. ranomafanensis

purple = H. g. gilberti

The eastern lesser bamboo lemur (Hapalemur griseus griseus), also known as the gray bamboo lemur, eastern gray bamboo lemur, or gray gentle lemur, was the original species described in 1795.

Gilbert's bamboo lemur (H. g. gilberti), also known as Gilbert's gentle lemur or Beanamalao bamboo lemur, was described as a subspecies in 2007, but was raised to species status in 2008. In 2010, it was returned to subspecies status. It is known only from the area of Ranomafana-Kianjavato in Madagascar.

The Ranomafana bamboo lemur (H. g. ranomafanensis), or Ranomafana gentle lemur, is the third subspecies.

External links

• University of Wisconsin
• Ranomafana National Park