Randrianasolo's sportive lemur
Species of lemur
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Randrianasolo's sportive lemur (Lepilemur randrianasoloi), or the Bemaraha sportive lemur, is a sportive lemur endemic to a small area of western Madagascar. It is threatened by habitat loss.[1]
| Randrianasolo's sportive lemur | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Infraclass: | Placentalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Suborder: | Strepsirrhini |
| Family: | Lepilemuridae |
| Genus: | Lepilemur |
| Species: | L. randrianasoloi |
| Binomial name | |
| Lepilemur randrianasoloi Andriaholinirina et al., 2017[3] | |
 | |
| Distribution of L. randrianasoloi[1] | |
Taxonomy and phylogenetics
Randrianasolo's sportive lemur was originally described in 2006 as L. randriansoli, in honor of the Malagasy researcher Georges Randrianasolo.[4] However, the name was misspelled and was corrected to L. randrianasoloi in 2009.[5] The original 2006 description was entirely online, and therefore did not meet the pre-2012 ICZN standards to be a valid name.[6] It was therefore given a follow-up description in 2017.[3]
Genetic analyses show Randrianasolo's sportive lemur to be sister to the Antafia sportive lemur.[7]
Description
Randrianasolo's sportive lemur differs from all other members of genus Lepilemur, except the antafia sportive lemur and the red-tailed sportive lemur, by its number of chromosomes (2N=40). It differs from the other two species by its slightly smaller size, narrower but longer head, and cytochrome b sequence. Additionally, the hind feet are longer than in the red-tailed sportive lemur.[4][3]
It has a total length of about 49 to 56 cm (19 to 22 in), of which 21–26 cm (8.3–10.2 in) is the tail.[8]
Distribution and habitat
Randrianasolo's sportive lemur inhabits dry deciduous forests in a small region of western Madagascar. Known localities include Andramasay forest, Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park and a few other nearby forest fragments. It is estimated to occupy less than 2,200 km2 and is found between 47 and 139 metres above sea level.[1]
It has been proposed that the natural northern and southern limits of the species's range are the Manambolo river and Tsiribihina river, respectively.[4][3] However, this has not been tested empirically.[1]
