Biology of the fat-tailed dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus medius E.Geoffroy 1812): New results from the field

Abstract

The two currently recognized dwarf lemur species of the genus Cheirogaleus—the fat-tailed dwarf lemur (C. medius, Fig. 1) and the greater dwarf lemur (C. major)—belong to the family Cheirogaleidae. All cheirogaleids are arboreal and strictly nocturnal, forage solitarily, and weigh between 30–600 g.1–3 Until very recently, dwarf lemurs were poorly studied. Knowledge of their biology was based on occasional field observations,1,4 two short-term field studies,2,5 and investigations in captivity.6–11 Longer-term studies on general aspects of the biology of Cheirogaleus were lacking until the late 1990s, when two field studies on C. medius were carried out at Ampijoroa Forestry Station in northwestern Madagascar12–15 and in the Kirindy Forest in western Madagascar.16–18 While there is still only sparse information on the biology of C. major, our knowledge of C. medius has increased significantly in the last several years. Here, we present a summary of what is known to date about the biology of the fat-tailed dwarf lemur.