| Giant Subfossil Lemurs | Extant Strepsirrhines | Malagasy Carnivores | Educational Outreach | Taxonomic and Conservation Status of Lemur catta from Andringitra |
In addition to investigations of Madagascar's biogeographic past, we are also concerned with the accelerating environmental crisis in Madagascar and its effect on the extant biota. Virtually all of Madagascar's mammals, for example, are severely threatened by environmental destruction. Perhaps the single exception to this pattern is the mouse lemur (genus Microcebus). As the world's smallest living primate and as an ecological generalist, it thrives in the secondary growth that results from deforestation. We are employing phylogenetic and population-genetic techniques to assess the history and taxonomic diversity of several western populations of the mouse lemur. The aims of this research are twofold. In collaboration with M. Rodin RASOLOARISON and Dr. Jorg Ganzhorn, we are investigating the correlation between morphological and geographic distinctions observed among these populations and the deep genetic divergences apparent within the mitochondrial data. This correlation implies that taxonomic diversity in these populations, currently described as a single species M.murinus, has been significantly underestimated. The second goal of this research is to assemble a baseline of genetic data for a healthy out-breeding population of Malagasy primates. These data might therefore offer a basis of comparison for other populations and species that might be genetically depleted and thus endangered.
| Giant Subfossil Lemurs | Extant Strepsirrhines | Malagasy Carnivores | Educational Outreach | Taxonomic and Conservation Status of Lemur catta from Andringitra |
Yoder Lab Page