Coquerel's giant mouse lemur (Mirza coquereli), also known as Coquerel's dwarf lemur or southern giant mouse lemur, is a small nocturnal lemur endemic to Madagascar. This species was named after the French entomologist Charles Coquerel. This lemur can be found in parts of the Madagascar dry deciduous forests.
This lemur is active throughout the year; unlike mouse lemurs (Microcebus), it does not hibernate, and instead it feeds on homopteran larvae to sustain itself. It is an arboreal species, and feeds on fruit, flowers, and small animals such as insects and spiders. Coquerel's giant mouse lemur is heavily preyed upon by owls.
This species was the only member of the genus Mirza until 2005, when a second species, the northern giant mouse lemur (M. zaza) was described.
Famous quotes containing the words giant and/or mouse:
“The point of the dragonflys terrible lip, the giant water bug, birdsong, or the beautiful dazzle and flash of sunlighted minnows, is not that it all fits together like clockwork--for it doesnt ... but that it all flows so freely wild, like the creek, that it all surges in such a free, finged tangle. Freedom is the worlds water and weather, the worlds nourishment freely given, its soil and sap: and the creator loves pizzazz.”
—Annie Dillard (b. 1945)
“A mouse does not run into the mouth of a sleeping cat.”
—Estonian. Trans. by Ilse Lehiste (1993)