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Pale fork-marked lemur

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Pale fork-marked lemur
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Strepsirrhini
Family: Cheirogaleidae
Genus: Phaner
Species:
P. pallescens
Binomial name
Phaner pallescens
Pale fork-marked lemur range[1]

The pale fork-marked lemur (Phaner pallescens), or western fork-marked lemur, is a species of lemur known from western Madagascar; south of the Fiherenana River to the region of Soalala. It is said to be the smallest fork-marked species.[4] It is listed on CITES Appendix I as Endangered.[2] They are about 9–11 in (230–280 mm) long from head to rump and their tail adds another 11–15 in (280–380 mm). Pale fork-marked lemur's weigh around 11–18 oz (310–510 g)

Pale fork-marked lemurs live up to around 12 years in captivity. Their chances of surviving to that age is suspected to decrease when in the wild.[5]

Behavior

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Pale fork-marked lemurs are nocturnal animals. They live in pairs but partners spend about 75% of their activity time apart, and females mate with several males.[6] Pair relationships are strained, with rates of combative interactions up to four times greater than affiliative interactions. This is likely due to intense feeding competition.[6]

Mothers of juveniles make a bleating call resembling that of a goat. Researchers have also identified a fighting call, a low-contact call accompanying locomotion, field location calls, and a call admitted exclusively by males.[4]

Calls emitted by males or females may be answered with kius by group members and neighbors, sometimes yielding a chorus spreading across the area... Partners do not always answer each other other calls. During meetings of neighbors and overlapping areas of territories, up to 10 individuals may come together and call.[4]

Males scent-mark social partners as well as substrates. Feces and urine are not used for scent marking. Females rub their genitals on substrates in males use throat gland excretions.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b Borgerson, C. (2020). "Phaner pallescens". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T16874A115571047. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T16874A115571047.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Checklist of CITES Species". CITES. UNEP-WCMC. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  3. ^ Groves, C. P. (2005). Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 114. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. OCLC 62265494.
  4. ^ a b c Rowe, Noel (2016). All the World's Primates: Pale fork-marked lemur. Charleston, Rhode Island: Pogonias Press. p. 39. ISBN 9781940496061.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  5. ^ "Pale Fork-Marked Lemur, Phaner pallescens - New England Primate Conservancy". neprimateconservancy.org. 2022-07-14. Retrieved 2024-06-02.
  6. ^ a b Schulke, Oliver (January 2004). "Small testes size despite high extra-pair paternity in the pair-living nocturnal primate Phaner furcifer". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 55 (3): 293–301. doi:10.1007/s00265-003-0709-x.
  7. ^ Rumpler, Y (1971). "Etude histologique des glandes de marquage de la face anterieure du cou des Lemuriens malgaches". Comptes Rendus des Seances de la Societe de Biologie (in French). 165 60: 436–451.