| hybridization of mouse lemurs: different patterns under different ecological conditions. | several mechanistic models aim to explain the diversification of the multitude of endemic species on madagascar. the island's biogeographic history probably offered numerous opportunities for secondary contact and subsequent hybridization. existing diversification models do not consider a possible role of these processes. one key question for a better understanding of their potential importance is how they are influenced by different environmental settings. here, we characterized a contact zone ... | 2011 | 21989384 |
| molecular detection of rickettsia spp., borrelia spp., bartonella spp. and yersinia pestis in ectoparasites of endemic and domestic animals in southwest madagascar. | little is known about the presence of vector-borne bacteria in southwest madagascar. anthropogenic alteration of natural habitats represents an important driver for the emergence of new diseases. especially the involvement of livestock and the involuntary maintaining of invasive synanthropic animals (particularly rats) facilitate disease transmission from wildlife to humans and associated animals and vice versa. the dissemination or acquisition of ectoparasites is most likely in regions where hu ... | 2020 | 31935354 |
| are tropical small mammals physiologically vulnerable to arrhenius effects and climate change? | there is some urgency in the necessity to incorporate physiological data into mechanistic, trait-based, demographic climate change models. physiological responses at the individual level provide the mechanistic link between environmental changes and individual performances and hence population dynamics. here we consider the causal relationship between ambient temperature (ta) and metabolic rate (mr), namely, the arrhenius effect, which is directly affected by global warming through increases in ... | 2014 | 24457919 |
| seasonal variation in the abundance and distribution of ticks that parasitize microcebus griseorufus at the bezà mahafaly special reserve, madagascar. | at bezà mahafaly special reserve (bmsr), madagascar, mouse lemurs (microcebus griseorufus) are parasitized by multiple species of haemaphysaline ticks. at present we know little about the role ticks play in wild lemur populations and how they can alter interspecies relationships within communities or impact host fitness. in order to better understand these dynamics at bmsr, we examined parasite-host interactions as well as the ecology of mouse lemurs and their infesting ticks, haemaphysalis lemu ... | 2015 | 26767168 |
| regional, seasonal and interspecific variation in 15n and 13c in sympatric mouse lemurs. | madagascar provides some of the rare examples where two or more primate species of the same genus and with seemingly identical niche requirements occur in sympatry. if congeneric primate species co-occur in other parts of the world, they differ in size in a way that is consistent with hutchinson's rule for coexisting species, or they occupy different ecological niches. in some areas of madagascar, mouse lemurs do not follow these "rules" and thus seem to violate one of the principles of communit ... | 2011 | 21881908 |
| extreme individual flexibility of heterothermy in free-ranging malagasy mouse lemurs (microcebus griseorufus). | flexibility in physiological processes is essential to adequately respond to changes in environmental conditions. madagascar is a particularly challenging environment because climatic conditions seem less predictable than in comparative ecosystems in other parts of the world. we used the reddish-gray mouse lemur (microcebus griseorufus) from the most unpredictable environment in madagascar as a model to investigate the flexibility of energy saving strategies to cope with the unpredictability of ... | 2011 | 20717683 |
| hibernation in malagasy mouse lemurs as a strategy to counter environmental challenge. | the spiny forest of southwestern madagascar is the driest and most unpredictable region of the island. it is characterized by a pronounced seasonality with high fluctuations in ambient temperature, low availability of food, and a lack of water during the cool dry season and, additionally, by changes in environmental conditions between years. one of the few mammalian species that manages to inhabit this challenging habitat is the reddish-gray mouse lemur (microcebus griseorufus). the aim of our s ... | 2009 | 19618156 |
| hybridization between mouse lemurs in an ecological transition zone in southern madagascar. | hybrid zones in ecotones can be useful model systems for the study of evolutionary processes that shape the distribution and discreteness of species. such studies could be important for an improved understanding of the complex biogeography of madagascar, which is renowned for its outstanding degree of small-scale endemism. certain forest remnants in central madagascar indicate that transitional corridors across the island could have connected microendemics in different forest types in the past. ... | 2009 | 19161471 |
| incongruence between genetic and morphological diversity in microcebus griseorufus of beza mahafaly. | the past decade has seen a remarkable increase in the number of recognized mouse lemur species (genus microcebus). as recently as 1994, only two species of mouse lemur were recognized according to the rules of zoological nomenclature. that number has now climbed to as many as fifteen proposed species. indeed, increases in recognized species diversity have also characterized other nocturnal primates--galagos, sportive lemurs, and tarsiers. presumably, the movement relates more to a previous lack ... | 2006 | 17109740 |
| adenovirus infection is associated with altered gut microbial communities in a non-human primate. | adenovirus (adv) infections are one of the main causes of diarrhea in young children. enteric advs probably disrupt gut microbial defences, which can result in diarrhea. to understand the role of the gut microbiome in adv-induced pathologies, we investigated the gut microbiome of a naturally adv-infected non-human primate species, the malagasy mouse lemur (microcebus griseorufus), which represents an important model in understanding the evolution of diseases. we observed that adv infection is as ... | 2019 | 31527752 |
| heterothermy in afrotropical mammals and birds: a review. | recent years have seen a rapid increase in the number of afrotropical endotherms known to avoid mismatches between energy supply and demand by using daily torpor and/or hibernation. among mammals, heterothermy has been reported in 40 species in six orders, namely macroscelidea, afrosoricida, rodentia, eulipotyphla, primates and chiroptera. these species span a range in body mass of 7-770 g, with minimum heterothermic body temperatures ranging from 1-27°c and bout length varying from 1 h to 70 da ... | 2011 | 21705792 |
| biological variation in a large sample of mouse lemurs from amboasary, madagascar: implications for interpreting variation in primate biology and paleobiology. | a thorough knowledge of biological variation in extant primates is imperative for interpreting variation, and for delineating species in primate biology and paleobiology. this is especially the case given the recent, rapid taxonomic expansion in many primate groups, notably among small-bodied nocturnal forms. here we present data on dental, cranial, and pelage variation in a single-locality museum sample of mouse lemurs from amboasary, madagascar. to interpret these data, we include comparative ... | 2013 | 23245834 |
| stable isotopes complement focal individual observations and confirm dietary variability in reddish-gray mouse lemurs (microcebus griseorufus) from southwestern madagascar. | we examine the ecology of reddish-gray mouse lemurs from three habitats at beza mahafaly special reserve using focal follows and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data. focal observations indicate dietary differences among habitats as well as sexes and seasons. both sexes consume more arthropods during the rainy season but overall, females consume more sugar-rich exudates and fruit than males, and individuals from riparian forest consume fewer arthropods and more fruit than those in xeric or dr ... | 2014 | 24898417 |
| torpor is not the only option: seasonal variations of the thermoneutral zone in a small primate. | the reddish-gray mouse lemur (microcebus griseorufus) is one of only a few small mammals inhabiting the spiny forest of southwestern madagascar. in this study we investigated the physiological adjustments which allow these small primates to persist under the challenging climatic conditions of their habitat. to this end we measured energy expenditure (metabolic rate) and body temperature of 24 naturally acclimatized mouse lemurs, kept in outdoor enclosures, during different seasons (summer, winte ... | 2014 | 24942312 |
| maintaining microendemic primate species along an environmental gradient - parasites as drivers for species differentiation. | understanding the drivers of species adaptations to changing environments on the one hand and the limits for hybridization on the other hand is among the hottest questions in evolutionary biology. parasites represent one of the major selective forces driving host evolution and at least those with free-living stages are at the same time dependent on the ecological conditions of their host's habitat. local immunological adaptations of host species to varying parasite pressure are therefore expecte ... | 2014 | 25558366 |
| the befuddling nature of mouse lemur hands and feet at bezà mahafaly, sw madagascar. | the reddish-gray mouse lemur (microcebus griseorufus) possesses striking phenotypic and behavioral variation. this project investigates differences in autopod proportions in neighboring populations of m. griseorufus from the special reserve at bezà mahafaly in southwest madagascar. one population resides in an environment generally preferred by m. griseorufus-a spiny forest with large-trunked trees, vertically-oriented supports, and more open ground, while the other resides in a gallery forest w ... | 2017 | 28605033 |