Golden bamboo lemur

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Golden bamboo lemur
In Ranomafana National Park

Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Strepsirrhini
Family: Lemuridae
Genus: Hapalemur
Species:
H. aureus
Binomial name
Hapalemur aureus
Meier et al., 1987[3]
Distribution of H. aureus[1]

The golden bamboo lemur (Hapalemur aureus), bokombolomena or varibolomena in Malagasy, is a medium-sized bamboo lemur endemic to south-eastern Madagascar.

It is able to ingest twelve times as much cyanide as would be considered lethal for other species of its size.

Description

The golden bamboo lemur is

crepuscular i.e. is a most active at dawn and dusk. It is about the size of a domestic cat and is 28–45 cm (11–18 in) long plus a tail of 24–40 cm (9.4–15.7 in), and on average weighs 1.6 kg (3.5 lb).[4]


Distribution

The species is endemic to the rain forests of south–eastern Madagascar at elevations of 600–1,400 m (2,000–4,600 ft). It is known from the vicinity of Ranomafana National Park (first discovery in 1986 by Patricia Wright), Andringitra National Park (discovered in 1993), possibly in a forest corridor that connects Ranomafana with Andringitra National Park.[1]

Ecology

As its name indicates, this lemur feeds almost exclusively on grasses, especially the giant bamboo or volohosy (Cathariostachys madagascariensis) feeding on new shoots, leaf bases and the creepers.[5] The growing shoots of this bamboo contain 0.015% (1 part in 6667) of cyanide. Each adult lemur eats about 500 g (18 oz) of bamboo per day, which contain about twelve times the lethal dose of cyanide for most other animals of this size.[6][4]

They live in small groups of two to six individuals and have a home range of up to 80 hectares (0.31 sq mi). but usually move less than 400 m (1,300 ft) in a day. Females have a gestation period of approximately 138 days and give birth to one infant (occasionally two) at the beginning of the rainy season, in November or December. The young are highly dependent on their mothers and are kept hidden in dense vegetation for the first two weeks.[1][4]

Conservation

The golden bamboo lemur was discovered in 1986 by Dr. Patricia Wright, in what is now

critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and is listed on Appendix I of CITES, CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention).[1][5][2]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T9672A115564398.en
    . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Checklist of CITES Species". CITES. UNEP-WCMC. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  3. OCLC 62265494
    .
  4. ^ a b c "Golden Bamboo Lemur". Animal Info.
  5. ^ a b "187. Golden Bamboo Lemur (Hapalemur aureus)". Edge of Existence. Zoological Society of London.
  6. S2CID 83647074
    .

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Golden_bamboo_lemur&oldid=1209382536"