The Gray Mouse Lemur

Who is the Gray Mouse Lemur?  The Gray mouse lemur is a small primate who lives only in the Madagascar forest.  They are 10 to 14cm tall.  Their skin color is brownish, grayish.  They are nocturnal and solitary.  They live in very hot temperatures.  Their scientific name is microcebus murinus.  Their major predators are the Fossa, the Barn Owl, the Narrow Moongoose, the spear-nosed snake and humans.  The Gray Mouse lemur is omnivorous, they eat mostly rose-hued berries, insects like the Pill Millipede and Flatid Leaf Bugs, lizard and chameleons and Trumpet Flowers.  He lives with the Mantella frog, the Brookesia chameleon, the Comet moth, the Nile crocodile, the tomato frog, the Uruplatus geckos, the blue coua, the tenrec, the Flying fox, the Fanaloka, the aye-aye, the indri, the day gecko.

The abiotic and biotic factors Abiotic factors:   Annually there is 1360mm of rain and 113mm each month.   The average humity of an average year is 78.1%.   The average temperature is 18.3 °C (65 °F).   There is approximately 2690 hours of sunshine annually.   The driest month is June, July & August when have approximately 9mm of rainfall.   There are annually no days of frost in Madagascar.   The soil is very moist which allows the plants to grow well. Biotic factors:   They affect the Fossa.   There are not a lot of mouse lemurs left.   So the Fossa does not have much food to eat.   They also affect the Comet Moth by eating them.   That also affects the Madagascar frogs.

What conservation methods were used to save them? 1 st Method: Forest Recovery Program 1 st Method: Forest Recovery Program  Madagascar has lost 10% of its original forest.  They are planting trees and making them grow in nurseries, then plant them in the forest.  It is effective and is helping many endangered species of the island.  The problem is other forests of the island are getting destructed.  2 nd Method: Zoos  They thought of sending them into zoos.  They wanted to protect them from hunting and pet trade.  There was lack of finishsing the project.  They decided not to send them into zoos.  Conservation of Madagascar species has become hard.

Why should we save them?  In the genome of the endangered gray mouse lemur, scientists have found DNA fossils of an ancient version of HIV.  Gray mouse lemurs will help scientists finish their research about AIDS and maybe figure out how to be immune to the aids.  HIV destroys the human immune system but pSIVgml doesn’t affect the lemurs.  They probably have an immunity to it.  Helping them means helping ourselves be immune to the aids.  If they were extinct the Comet moth, Flatid leaf bugs, and the Day gecko be overpopulated.  His predators, Fossa, Spear-nosed snake, Barn Owl and Narrow Moongoose could be endangered.

How to save the gray mouse lemur?  Stop cutting down the forests.  Not waste paper or other objects using wood.  Try not to pollute.  Do not buy them as pets, they are captured for pet trade.

Adaptations  They have a behavioral adaptation of being aggressive. They have many predators.  They have brownish, grayish colors to camouflage.  They are small to hide easily.  They have big ears to hear predators coming and to recognize other lemur species. (Each kind makes a different sound).

Food Web Trumpet Flowers (Gray Mouse) Lemur Rose-Hued Berries Comet Moth Mantella Frog Tomato frog Brookesia Chameleon Fossa Barn Owl Flying Fox Blue coua The day gecko The Pill Millipede Flatid Leaf bugs Tenrecs Indri Canopy Leaves Butterfly Orchid Spear-nosed snake

References  “Forest recovery Program.” Wild Madagascar. N.p., Web. 25 Mar  “Gray Mouse Lemur.” It’s Nature Let’s Discover! N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar  “Gray Mouse Lemur Fact Sheet.” Duke Lemur Center. N.p., Web. 1 Mar  Gron, Kurt, and Sylvia Atsalis, eds. “Mouse Lemur Microcebus.” Primate Info Net. Wisconsin Primate Research Library, 21 Nov Web. 1 Mar  “Hangin’ With Mouse Lemurs.” Squidoo. N.p., Web. 26 Mar  Keim, Brandon. “Endangered lemurs survived ancient AIDS epidemic.” Wired.co.UK. N.p., 28 Jan Web. 24 Mar  “Madagascar Climate Information.” Climate Temperature info. N.p., 22 July Web. 25 Mar  “Madagascar Plants.” Rainforest facts. N.p., Web. 1 Mar  “Mouse Lemurs and Satellite view of flood.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, n.d. Web. 26 Mar