Madame Berthe's mouse lemur (Microcebus berthae) or Berthe's mouse lemur is the smallest of the mouse lemurs and the smallest primate in the world; the average body length is 92 millimetres (3.6 in) and seasonal weight is around 30 g (1.1 oz). Microcebus berthae is one of many species of Madagascan lemurs that came about through extensive speciation, caused by unknown environmental mechanisms and conditions. It is found in the Kirindy Mitea National Park in western Madagascar. After its discovery in 1992 in the dry deciduous forest of western Madagascar, it was initially thought to represent a rediscovery of M. myoxinus, but comparative morphometric and genetic studies revealed its status as a new species, M. berthae.
This lemur is named after the conservationist Madame Berthe Rakotosamimanana of Madagascar, the Secretary General of the Groupe d'Etudes et de Recherche des Primates (GERP) from its founding until her death in 2005.
Read more about Madame Berthe's Mouse Lemur: Physical Description, Distribution and Habitat, Behaviour, Ecology
Famous quotes containing the words madame and/or mouse:
“But Madame Bad Luck soberly comes
And stays—no fancy has she for flitting;”
—John Milton Hay (1838–1905)
“It is as when a migrating army of mice girdles a forest of pines. The chopper fells trees from the same motive that the mouse gnaws them,—to get his living. You tell me that he has a more interesting family than the mouse. That is as it happens.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)