Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 12 August 2005:
Vol. 309. no. 5737, p. 1010
DOI: 10.1126/science.309.5737.1010a
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Random Samples

Figure 1 Mirza zaza is a new species of lemur. Without spotting a single new animal, researchers have identified five new species of lemurs--small nocturnal primates from the forests of Madagascar. The behavior, morphology, and genetics of the two known populations of the giant mouse lemur suggest they are in fact separate species that diverged 2 million years ago, Peter Kappeler and colleagues at the German Primate Center in Göttingen conclude in the current issue of Primate Report. Genetic analysis also revealed that the researchers' control group of lemurs, known simply as mouse lemurs, likewise contained a distinct new species. The two new species joined three new species of lepilemurs, also discovered by studying animals thought to be the same species and described on 10 August at the Congress of the European Federation of Primatology in Göttingen. Kappeler says the new classifications will help explain speciation among these rare animals.

CREDIT: DAVID HARING/DUKE UNIVERSITY PRIMATE CENTER




To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)