Brown Mouse Lemur
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Microcebus rufus is nocturnal, it is smaller than Cheirogaleus major. Its back is reddish brown, the underbelly lighter.
The easiest way to see mouse lemurs is to go to the banana feeding station at Talatakely at dusk, this does not work too well when the guava are fruiting (March-May). And it may be viewed as cheating. They are hard to see otherwise; presumably it is possible to find them by eye shine at night, but I have never been able to do so.
| Head & Body Length (Mittermeier et al, 1994) | 125mm (5in) | |
|---|---|---|
| Tail Length (Mittermeier et al, 1994) | 115mm (4.5in) | |
| Weight (Kappeler,
1991) (fluctuates seasonally) |
50g (1.8oz) | |
M. rufus mates between September and October with a 61 day gestation period (Doyle, 1979). In captivity there may be two matings per year. (Nash, 1993, Atsalis 1998) Births occur in late December, and weaning at the end of February, at the time of greatest food availability (Wright, 1999)
Males start to increase the size of their testes in August, and some females show vulval perforation. Testes continue to increase in size through October, and start to shrink again in November, resuming normal size in December (Atsalis, 1998) In captive studies Perret found that changes in daylength regulate endocrine activity and behavior. As the days shorten animals store fat, metabolism, temperature and sexual activity decrease, and animals became more tolerant, nesting in large groups. (Perret 1972, Perret 1992). The pattern was reversed when day length started to increase, leading to the beginning of sexual activity. Male testes increased in size and female estrus commenced.
1-3 infants are produced in a litter. (Atsalis)
In captivity female mouse lemurs are known to live on average 6-8 years (Perret, 1990)
Locomotion is quadrupedal. Animals range through all heights in the forest. (Atsalis 1998).
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They eat fruit, young leaves, flowers, insects (and occasional spiders) and gum (and probably nectar or possibly pollen). Most of their diet consists of the fruit of plants in the mistletoe family (Bakerella spp. which is also a staple for Propithecus diadema edwardsi, and for Philepitta castenea) and beetles. Diet is seasonal with a decline in insect consumption between Dec-March and May (apparently uncorrelated with general fruit availability, and negatively correlated with insect availability, ie. in months of high insect availability M. rufus does not eat insects). There appears to be an increase in fruit consumption in February and March (potentially a time of fattening before torpor).
Bakerella spp. fruits have high lipid and low sugar contents.
M. rufus will attempt and even consume large insects. They have been observed examining millipedes as long as their own bodies, and have eaten scarab beetles 4.5 x 2.5 cm (the animal's head and body is 12.5cm). They will watch, but rarely attempt to capture solitary flying insects, but appear attracted to flowering trees both for the nectar and for the pollinating insects. Based on fecal data it is likely that M. rufus occasionally forage for ground-living insects.
It is likely that fruit is the primary food source, rather than insects as small body size would predict. (Atsalis 1998).
These two species are both nocturnal small-bodied Cheirogaleidae, both with high fruit, insect diets, both competing for Bakerella spp. fruits. On the other hand M. rufus appears to eat fruits that are lower in tannins and with no alkaloids than did C. major. (Atsalis 1998).
Strictly nocturnal.
In the winter (May-Sept) most females and some males appear to go into torpor (they are no longer trapped while many males still are) and lose 5-35g, tail circumference (the tail is an area where the Cheirogaleidae store fat) was reduced by .4-1.2cm. Torporing males come out of torpor starting in August, while females wait until October. Between February and May the ratio of trapped males to females is 1:1, while between June and September it is 3.7:1. The same individuals do not go into torpor each year. (Atsalis 1998, Atsalis 1999b).
Animals are solitary. Males have slightly larger territories than females. Males appear more active. Each male's territory contacts at least 2 female territories. (Atsalis 1999a).
Given that one trap can catch up to 15 individuals Atsalis concludes that there is a good deal of territorial overlap (Atsalis, 1998)
Atsalis suggests that males disperse from their natal areas during the dry winter months. (Atsalis 1998)
Microcebus rufus is widely distributed over the primary and secondary forests near the eastern coast of Madagascar.
Mammalia -> Primata (Strepsirrhini, Lemuriformes) -> Cheirogaleidae -> Microcebus rufus
Until 1977 M. rufus was considered a subspecies of M. murinus. Several new species of mouse lemur have been discovered (or rediscovered) in the last decade.
Atsalis, SA, Schmid J, and Kappeler PM, 1996, "Metrical comparisons of three species of mouse lemur", Journal of Human Evolution, 31:61-68
Atsalis, SA, 1998, "Feeding Ecology and aspects of Life History in Microcebus rufus (Family Cheirogaleidae)", Ph. D. dissertation, City University of New York.
Atsalis, SA, 1999a, "Aspects of social organization in Microcebus rufus; results from a long-term mark recapture study in Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar", American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 85-86, Suppl 28
Atsalis, S, 1999b, "Seasonal fluctuations in body fat and activity levels in a rain-forest species of mouse lemur, Microcebus rufus", International Journal of Primatology, 20:(6) 883-910
Atsalis, S, 2000, "Spacial distribution and population composition of the brown mouse lemur, Microcebus rufus", American Journal of Primatology, 51(1): 61-78
Charles-Dominique, P., et al, 1980, Nocturnal Malagasy Primates, Academic Press.
Doyle GA, 1979, "Development of behavior in prosimians with special reference to the lesser bushbaby, Galago senegalensis moholi", The Study of Prosimian Behavior, 158-206, Academic Press
Goodman, SM, O'Conner S, Langrand O, 1993 "A review of predation on lemurs: Implications for the evolution of social behavior in small, nocturnal primates", Lemur Social Systems and their Ecological Basis, 51-66
Harste LV, 1993, "Feeding behavior in Microcebus rufus: A case study", B.A. honors thesis, State University of New York, Stony Brook
Harste LV, Wright PC, and Jernvall J, 1997, "Microcebus rufus feeding behaviour in the south-eastern rain forest of Madagascar", Primate Eye June 6-7
Kappeler, PM, 1991, "Patterns of sexual dimorphism in body weight among prosimian primates", Folia Primatologica, 57:132-146
Mittermeier, Russell et al, 1994, The Lemurs of Madagascar, Conservation International
Nash LT, 1993, "Juveniles of nongregarious primates", Juvenile Primates: Life History, Development, and Behavior, 119-137, Oxford University Press
Perret M, 1972, "Recherches sur les variations des glandes endocrines, et en particulier de l'hypothyse au cours du cycle annuel, chez un lemurien malgache, Microcebus murinus (Miller 1777)", Mammalia 36:482-516
Perret M, 1992, "Environmental and social determinants of sexual function in the male lesser mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus)", Folia Primatologica, 59:1-25
Rowe, Noel, 1996, The Pictorial Guide to the Living Primates, Pogonias Press
Wright PC, and Martin LB, 1995, "Predation, pollination and torpor in two nocturnal prosimians (Cheirogaleus major and Microcebus rufus) in the rain forest of Madagascar" in L Alterman, GA Doyle and MK Izard (eds): Creatures of the Dark: The Nocturnal Prosimians, New York, Plenum Press, pp. 45-60
Wright, P.C. 1999 "Lemur traits and Madagascar ecology: coping with an island environment." Yearbook of Physical Anthropology 42: 31-72.
M. r. at the banana feeding
stationP3
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