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Objectives: Phylogenies consistently group the folivorous Lepilemur species with the small-bodied insectivorous-frugivorous cheirogaleids. Juvenile lepilemurs and adult cheirogaleids share allometries in most aspects of skull morphology, except the palate. We investigated potential influences on palate shape in these taxa and several outgroups using geometric morphometrics., Materials and Methods: Our sample included representatives of four extant strepsirrhine families, Cheirogaleidae (including Lepilemurinae), Lemuridae, Indriidae, and Galagidae, and one subfossil Megaladapis. Our dataset comprised 32 landmarks collected from 397 specimens representing 15 genera and 28 species, and was analyzed using generalized procrustes analyses and between group principal component analysis. We explored the influence of size, phylogeny, diet, and the propagation of loud vocalizations on palate shape., Results: While congeneric species clustered within the morphospace, the phylomorphospace did not mirror molecular phylogenetic hypotheses of higher-order relationships. Four palate forms were distinguished within the Cheirogaleidae. Diet, strongly linked to body size, had the single greatest influence on palate shape. The production of long-distance advertisement calls was most often associated with positive scores on the PC1 axis., Discussion: Our results suggest that the extensive variation in palate shape among Cheirogaleidae is related to dietary shifts that accompanied changes in body size during the clade's radiation. Molecular phylogenies indicate that cheirogaleid diversification involved repeated dwarfing events, which in turn drove dietary shifts from ancestral folivory-frugivory to frugivory, gummivory, and faunivory in the descendant species. The elongated Lepilemur palate is probably related to accelerated eruption of the cheek teeth to render juveniles competent to shear leaves upon weaning., (© 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Delimitation of cryptic species is increasingly based on genetic analyses but the integration of distributional, morphological, behavioral, and ecological data offers unique complementary insights into species diversification. We surveyed communities of nocturnal mouse lemurs (Microcebus spp.) in five different sites of northeastern Madagascar, measuring a variety of morphological parameters and assessing reproductive states for 123 individuals belonging to five different lineages. We documented two different non-sister lineages occurring in sympatry in two areas. In both cases, sympatric species pairs consisted of a locally restricted (M. macarthurii or M. sp. #3) and a more widespread lineage (M. mittermeieri or M. lehilahytsara). Estimated Extents of Occurrence (EOO) of these lineages differed remarkably with 560 and 1,500 km 2 versus 9,250 and 50,700 km 2 , respectively. Morphometric analyses distinguished unambiguously between sympatric species and detected more subtle but significant differences among sister lineages. Tail length and body size were most informative in this regard. Reproductive schedules were highly variable among lineages, most likely impacted by phylogenetic relatedness and environmental variables. While sympatric species pairs differed in their reproductive timing (M. sp. #3/M. lehilahytsara and M. macarthurii/M. mittermeieri), warmer lowland rainforests were associated with a less seasonal reproductive schedule for M. mittermeieri and M. lehilahytsara compared with populations occurring in montane forests. Distributional, morphological, and ecological data gathered in this study support the results of genomic species delimitation analyses conducted in a companion study, which identified one lineage, M. sp. #3, as meriting formal description as a new species. Consequently, a formal species description is included. Worryingly, our data also show that geographically restricted populations of M. sp. #3 and its sister species (M. macarthurii) are at high risk of local and perhaps permanent extinction from both deforestation and habitat fragmentation., (© 2020 The Authors. American Journal of Primatology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Tropical forests harbor extremely high levels of biological diversity and are quickly disappearing. Despite the increasingly recognized high rate of habitat loss, it is expected that new species will be discovered as more effort is put to document tropical biodiversity. Exploring under-studied regions is particularly urgent if we consider the rapid changes in habitat due to anthropogenic activities. Madagascar is known for its extraordinary biological diversity and endemicity. It is also threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation. It holds more than 100 endemic primate species (lemurs). Among these, Microcebus (mouse lemurs) is one of the more diverse genera. We sampled mouse lemurs from several sites across northern Madagascar, including forests never sampled before. We obtained morphological data from 99 Microcebus individuals; we extracted DNA from tissue samples of 42 individuals and amplified two mitochondrial loci (cytb and cox2) commonly used for species identification. Our findings update the distribution of three species (Microcebus tavaratra, Microcebus arnholdi, and Microcebus mamiratra), including a major increase in the distribution area of M. arnholdi. We also report the discovery of a new Microcebus lineage genetically related to M. arnholdi. Several complementary approaches suggest that the newly identified Microcebus lineage might correspond to a new putative species, to be confirmed or rejected with additional data. In addition, morphological analyses showed (a) clear phenotypic differences between M. tavaratra and M. arnholdi, but no clear differences between the new Microcebus lineage and the sister species M. arnholdi; and (b) a significant correlation between climatic variables and morphology, suggesting a possible relationship between species identity, morphology, and environment. By integrating morphological, climatic, genetic, and spatial data of two northern Microcebus species, we show that the spatial distribution of forest-dwelling species may be used as a proxy to reconstruct the past spatial changes in forest cover and vegetation type., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Reproduction is a fundamental trait in the life history of any species and contributes to species diversity and evolution. Here, we aim to review the barely known variation in reproductive patterns of the smallest-bodied primate radiation, the Malagasy mouse lemurs, focusing on twelve species of four phylogenetic clades. We present a new reproductive field dataset collected between May and November 1996-2016 for nine species (Microcebus murinus, M. myoxinus, M. ravelobensis, M. bongolavensis, M. danfossi, M. sambiranensis, M. margothmarshae, M. mamiratra, and M. lehilahytsara) and add published field information on three additional species. In the majority of species, the estrus of females was recorded in the period of long days (day length longer than 12 hr), whereas male testes size increased about one to three months prior to this. Reproductive schedules varied considerably between the four clades. Sympatric species-pairs of different clades differed in the timing of female and male reproduction, suggesting strong phylogenetic constraints. Populations of the same species in a different ecological setting varied in the onset of reproduction, suggesting substantial environmental plasticity. Warm temperatures and rainfall throughout the year may allow for less expressed reproductive seasonality. Our results suggest that an interplay between phylogenetic relatedness, ambient temperature (as a proxy for thermo regulatory constraints), and rainfall (as a proxy for food availability), may best explain this variation. Findings further point to a more complex control of mouse lemur reproduction than previously described and illuminate phylogenetic constraints and adaptive potentials in behavioral reaction norms of a species-rich primate radiation., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Although the number of described lemur species has increased considerably over the last 20 years, detailed biogeographic data are still lacking from many geographic regions, in particular in the eastern part of Madagascar. This study investigated mouse lemur species diversity in a previously unstudied Inter-River-System in the eastern Makira region. Three sites were visited and 26 individuals were sampled and characterized with 13 external morphometric measurements. Standard phylogenetic analyses were performed on the basis of sequences of three mitochondrial loci by including representatives of all other published mouse lemur species for comparison. The analyses revealed the presence of three mouse lemur species in one study site, two of which were previously undescribed. The two new species are genetically distinct and belong to the larger-bodied mouse lemur species on the island, whereas the third species, Microcebus mittermeieri, belongs to the smaller-bodied mouse lemur species. The study fully describes one of the new species. This study and other lemur inventories suggest that the Makira region is particularly rich in lemur species and the lack of any protected zone in this area should now attract the urgent attention of conservation stakeholders., (Copyright 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Our study provides the first data on the social organization of the golden brown mouse lemur, a nocturnal primate discovered in northwestern Madagascar in 1994. The study was carried out in two 6-month field periods during the dry season, covering time before and during the mating season. The spatial and temporal distributions of the sexes in the population were investigated by mark/recapture and radiotelemetry. Focal observations and the determination of sleeping associations provided further insights into the sociality of this solitary forager. High intra- and intersexual home-range overlaps occurred throughout the study. In general, individuals of both sexes had spatial access to more than one conspecific of the same and the opposite sex. We found no indication for spatial monopolization of females by certain males. These results suggest a dispersed multimale/multifemale system with a promiscuous mating pattern. Individuals showed temporal stability in their home range locations and interacted regularly with conspecifics. Five sleeping groups were identified during the study period: one female group and four mixed-sex groups. Even though sleeping sites were changed frequently, sleeping-group compositions remained stable over time. Thermoregulatory constraints are the most likely explanation for sleeping-group composition with members of both sexes in this species. Mixed-sex sleeping groups can be described as the basic social unit within this dispersed multimale/multifemale society., (Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

An examination of previous morphological and molecular studies of strepsirhine systematics suggests a conflict between the two types of data. Cladistic analyses of morphological data have indicated that the Malagasy primate family Cheirogaleidae is the sister taxon of the Afro-Asian lorisiforms and that together, cheirogaleids and lorisiforms comprise a monophyletic clade that excludes the Malagasy lemuriforms. Molecular studies, on the other hand, have consistently found that cheirogaleids and lemuriforms together are monophyletic to the exclusion of lorisiforms. Both types of studies, however, have suffered from methodological weaknesses: the morphological studies looked at too few characters and the molecular studies looked at too few taxa. This study examines a large and diverse morphological data set as well as molecular data from a comprehensive sample of strepsirhine taxa. The data sets are considered independently and jointly. When they are analyzed independently, the morphological data give weak support, and the molecular data strong support, to the hypothesis of Malagasy primate monophyly. When the two data sets are combined in a single analysis, the results are decisive. The "total evidence" approach yields compelling support to the hypothesis that cheirogaleids and remaining Malagasy lemuriforms comprise a monophyletic assemblage that excludes lorisiforms.