Southern needle-clawed bushbaby

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Southern needle-clawed bushbaby [1]
Euoticus elegantulus.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Strepsirrhini
Family: Galagidae
Genus: Euoticus
Species:
E. elegantulus
Binomial name
Euoticus elegantulus
(Le Conte, 1857)
Southern Needle-clawed Bushbaby area.png
Range

The southern needle-clawed bushbaby (Euoticus elegantulus) is a species of strepsirrhine primate in the family Galagidae. Found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, and possibly Democratic Republic of the Congo, its natural habitat is tropical moist forests. While the species is not threatened or endangered, some local populations may be threatened by habitat destruction. [2]

Contents

Description

This species is medium-sized, with a head-and-body length of 200 mm (8 in) and a tail of 290 mm (11.4 in). The sexes are similar in appearance, but there is considerable geographical variation in this species; animals from near the coast are larger and paler than those from inland. The upper parts of the body are bright orange, often darker on the shoulders, contrasting with the silvery-grey of the underparts and inner sides of the limbs. The tip of the tail is whitish in many individuals. In common with the northern needle-clawed bushbaby (Euoticus pallidus), the nails have strong ridges and end in sharp points, an adaptation for climbing about on large tree limbs. The southern species differs from the northern in having a narrow gap between the upper two central incisors, and the nasal bones being wider at the front. Both species differ from other galagos in having a single pair of nipples. [3]

Distribution and habitat

The southern needle-clawed bushbaby is found in western Central Africa where it is present in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Congo and possibly also in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its range extends from the Sanaga River to the Congo River and the Ubangi River. It inhabits both primary and secondary forests, but is more common in secondary growth where there are larger numbers of gum and resin-producing trees. [2]

Ecology

Bushbabies in this genus are specialist consumers of gum. [3] The distinctive teeth, with fan-like lower incisors with sharp-cutting edges, are probably used to enlarge wounds in tree limbs so that gum is exuded more freely. It is unlikely that these teeth are capable of making gashes in large limbs with thick bark, so the animal is probably reliant on wounds made by anomalures, cicadas and wood-boring beetles. Trees on which this species likes to feed include Albizia , Entada and Newtonia species. [3] Other features which it shares with other specialised gum-eating primates, such as the Masoala fork-marked lemur, include a long, extensible tongue, an enlarged upper first premolar, a large caecum and sharp nails for climbing and gripping. [4]

A solitary, nocturnal animal, the southern needle-clawed bushbaby communicates with other individuals by voice and by urine marking. [4]

Status

E. elegantulus has a wide range and is a common species. No specific threats have been recognised but in places it is locally threatened by deforestation. The population is steady and the range includes a number of protected areas, so the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern". [2]

Related Research Articles

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Galagos, also known as bush babies, or nagapies, are small nocturnal primates native to continental, sub-Sahara Africa, and make up the family Galagidae. They are considered a sister group of the Lorisidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Senegal bushbaby</span> Species of primate

The Senegal bushbaby, also known as the Senegal galago, the lesser galago or the lesser bush baby, is a small, nocturnal primate, a member of the galago family Galagidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesser bushbaby</span> Genus of primates

Lesser bushbabies, or lesser galagos, are strepsirrhine primates of the genus Galago. They are classified, along with the bushbabies and the rest of the galagos, in the family Galagidae. They are probably the most numerous primate in Africa, and can be found in every large forest on the continent, inhabiting forested areas, savannas, riverine bush and open woodlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Needle-clawed bushbaby</span> Genus of primates

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potto</span> Arboreal primate of west-central Africa

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schreber's yellow bat</span> Species of bat

Schreber's yellow bat or the giant house bat, is a species of vesper bat. It is found in Benin, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, dry savanna, and moist savanna. It is an uncommon species and its biology is poorly known. It was first described in 1774 by the German naturalist Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber, who named it Vespertilio nigrita. It was later transferred to the genus Scotophilus, making it Scotophilus nigrita.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-tailed tree rat</span> Species of rodent native to Africa

The black-tailed tree rat, also called black-tailed acacia rat or black-tailed thallomys,, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, where its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. It is both nocturnal and arboreal and makes bulky nests in the trees, often acacias, where it feeds on leaves and buds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crested mona monkey</span> Species of Old World monkey

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern needle-clawed bushbaby</span> Species of primate

The northern needle-clawed bushbaby is a species of strepsirrhine primate in the family Galagidae. It is found in the coastal region of Cameroon and Nigeria, and on the island of Bioko, Equatorial Guinea in lower-elevation forests that provide its specialized diet of tree gum and resins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prince Demidoff's bushbaby</span> Species of primate

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grant's bushbaby</span> Species of primate

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dusky bushbaby</span> Species of primate

The dusky bushbaby is a species of primate in the family Galagidae. It is also known as Matschie's galago, in honour of the German zoologist Paul Matschie, curator of mammals at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin. Native to tropical Central Africa, it is found in forests in Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. The species is small with a long tail, and has an arboreal, nocturnal and omnivorous lifestyle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohol bushbaby</span> Species of primate

The Mohol bushbaby is a species of primate in the family Galagidae which is native to mesic woodlands of the southern Afrotropics. It is physically very similar to the Senegal bushbaby, and was formerly considered to be its southern race. The two species differ markedly in their biology however, and no hybrids have been recorded in captivity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dwarf scaly-tailed squirrel</span> Species of rodent

The dwarf scaly-tailed squirrel is a species of rodent in the family Anomaluridae. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Uganda. The species is nocturnal and arboreal and lives in subtropical or tropical lowland rainforest. Membranes attached to its limbs and tail enable it to glide between trees. This squirrel is currently not considered to be threatened by habitat destruction; "much of the habitat within parts of the known range of this species is relatively intact, and the species is unlikely to be experiencing any significant declines."

Thomas's rope squirrel or redless tree squirrel is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Nigeria. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is a common species and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated it as being of "least concern".

Kellen's dormouse is a species of rodent in the family Gliridae. It is native to tropical Africa where its range extends from the Gambia and Senegal to Kenya and Tanzania. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, and moist or dry savannah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hildegarde's shrew</span> Species of mammal

Hildegarde's shrew is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is found in Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania. Considered by some authorities to be a subspecies of Crocidura gracilipes, it is now recognised as a separate species, with a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 52. This is one of three species of small mammal named by the British zoologist Oldfield Thomas in honour of anthropologist Hildegarde Beatrice Hinde.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western tree hyrax</span> Species of mammal in the family Procaviidae

The western tree hyrax, also called the western tree dassie or Beecroft's tree hyrax, is a species of tree hyrax within the family Procaviidae. It can be distinguished from other hyraxes by short coarse fur, presence of white patch of fur beneath the chin, lack of hair on the rostrum, and lower crowns of the cheek teeth compared to other members of the same genus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cross River bushbaby</span> Subspecies of primate

The Cross River bushbaby, also known as the Cross River squirrel galago, is a subspecies of prosimian primate in the family Galagidae which is endemic to a restricted area of West Africa. It is one of four species of squirrel galago in the genus Sciurocheirus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabon bushbaby</span> Species of primate

The Gabon bushbaby is a species of primate in the family Galagidae found in Cameroon, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo. Its head and body length is 8.5 in with a 10-in tail, and it weighs about 10 oz. It lives in evergreen tropical rainforests and eats primarily fallen fruit, but also some arthropods.

References

  1. Groves, C. P. (2005). "Order Primates". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 123. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Oates, J.F.; Butynski, T.M. (2019). "Euoticus elegantulus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019: e.T8265A17961768. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T8265A17961768.en . Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Kingdon, Jonathan; Happold, David; Butynski, Thomas; Hoffmann, Michael; Happold, Meredith; Kalina, Jan (2013). Mammals of Africa. A&C Black. pp. 441–444. ISBN   978-1-4081-8996-2.
  4. 1 2 Charles-Dominique, P. (2012). Nocturnal Malagasy primates: Ecology, Physiology, and Behavior. Elsevier Science. p. 93. ISBN   978-0-323-15971-5.