projectpowerplant.com

godzilla 2 October 2006 Endangered & Extinction 121 views No Comment Print This Post  Email This Post

The Independent

Climate change will condemn the already endangered lemurs of Madagascar to extinction, a study shows.

Patricia Wright, of Stony Brook University in New York, studied the island’s sifikas lemur over 20 years. She found that even a subtle reduction in rainfall in lemur habitats could cause extinction because they are so reliant on water during their reproductive cycle.

Her study revealed that in times of reduced rainfall, infant lemurs are unable to feed properly because females rely on large quantities of water to produce enough milk.

:

Lemurs are found only in Madagascar, which is often referred to as the “eighth continent” by scientists because of the incredible diversity of species found on the island.

Lesley Dickie, a Madagascar expert at London Zoo, said three new species of lemur have been discovered in the past year alone and many more may yet be discovered. “The real concern is that some of these species are disappearing before we find them,” she said.

========================================================

www.lemurs.us

Lemurs are small primates known as “prosimians,” which, roughly translated, means “pre-primates” or “before monkeys.” Native only to the island of Madagascar and the neighboring Comoro Islands, lemurs resemble the oldest ancestors of primates which existed tens of millions of years ago.
Exact classification of some types of lemurs is a subject of debate, but it’s generally accepted that there are five families of lemurs with about a dozen genera and just over 30 living species. Some species of lemurs are now extinct, including one ancient lemur said to be as large as a gorilla — over 400 pounds. Some prosimian species contain a number of subspecies, all with distinct characteristics, which brings the total types of living lemurs to around 50.

Today’s lemur species range in size from the tiny pygmy mouse lemur, weighing in at about an ounce, to the 15-pound indri lemur and the sifaka, which are both about the size of a standard house cat.