The Gray
Mouse Lemur
Who is the Gray Mouse Lemur?
 The Gray mouse lemur is a small primate who lives only in the
Madagascar forest.
 They are 10 to 14cm tall.
 Their skin color is brownish, grayish.
 They are nocturnal and solitary.
 They live in very hot temperatures.
 Their scientific name is microcebus murinus.
 Their major predators are the Fossa, the Barn Owl, the Narrow
Moongoose, the spear-nosed snake and humans.
 The Gray Mouse lemur is omnivorous, they eat mostly rose-hued
berries, insects like the Pill Millipede and Flatid Leaf Bugs, lizard
and chameleons and Trumpet Flowers.
 He lives with the Mantella frog, the Brookesia chameleon, the
Comet moth, the Nile crocodile, the tomato frog, the Uruplatus
geckos, the blue coua, the tenrec, the Flying fox, the Fanaloka,
the aye-aye, the indri, the day gecko.
The abiotic and biotic
factors
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Abiotic factors:
Annually there is 1360mm of
rain and 113mm each month.
The average humity of an
average year is 78.1%.
The average temperature is
18.3 °C (65 °F).
There is approximately 2690
hours of sunshine annually.
The driest month is June, July
& August when have
approximately 9mm of rainfall.
There are annually no days
of frost in Madagascar.
The soil is very moist which
allows the plants to grow well.
Biotic factors:
 They affect the Fossa.
 There are not a lot of mouse
lemurs left.
 So the Fossa does not have
much food to eat.
 They also affect the Comet
Moth by eating them.
 That also affects the
Madagascar frogs.
What conservation methods
were used to save them?
1st Method: Forest Recovery
Program
 Madagascar has lost 10% of
its original forest.
 They are planting trees and
making them grow in
nurseries, then plant them in
the forest.
 It is effective and is helping
many endangered species of
the island.
 The problem is other forests
of the island are getting
destructed.
 2nd Method: Zoos
 They thought of sending them
into zoos.
 They wanted to protect them
from hunting and pet trade.
 There was lack of finishsing
the project.
 They decided not to send
them into zoos.
 Conservation of Madagascar
species has become hard.
Why should we save
them?
 In the genome of the endangered gray mouse lemur, scientists
have found DNA fossils of an ancient version of HIV.
 Gray mouse lemurs will help scientists finish their research about
AIDS and maybe figure out how to be immune to the aids.
 HIV destroys the human immune system but pSIVgml doesn’t
affect the lemurs.
 They probably have an immunity to it.
 Helping them means helping ourselves be immune to the aids.
 If they were extinct the Comet moth, Flatid leaf bugs, and the Day
gecko be overpopulated.
 His predators, Fossa, Spear-nosed snake, Barn Owl and Narrow
Moongoose could be endangered.
How to save the gray
mouse lemur?
 Stop cutting down the forests.
 Not waste paper or other objects using
wood.
 Try not to pollute.
 Do not buy them as pets, they are
captured for pet trade.
Adaptations
 They have a behavioral adaptation of being aggressive. They
have many predators.
 They have brownish, grayish colors to camouflage.
 They are small to hide easily.
 They have big ears to hear predators coming
and to recognize other lemur species. (Each
kind makes a different sound).
Food Web
Flatid Leaf
bugs
The day
gecko
Tomato frog
Tenrecs
The Pill
Millipede
Barn Owl
Fossa
Mantella
Frog
Spear-nosed
snake
Brookesia
Chameleon
(Gray Mouse) Lemur
Comet
Moth
Butterfly
Flying Fox
Blue coua
Trumpet Flowers
Orchid
Canopy Leaves
Rose-Hued
Berries
Indri
References
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“Forest recovery Program.” Wild Madagascar. N.p., 2009. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.
<http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0601-moses_schiirman_madagascar.html>.
“Gray Mouse Lemur.” It’s Nature Let’s Discover! N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.itsnature.org/ground/mammals-land/gray-mouse-lemur/>.
“Gray Mouse Lemur Fact Sheet.” Duke Lemur Center. N.p., 2012. Web. 1 Mar. 2012.
<http://lemur.duke.edu/gray-mouse-lemur-fact-sheet/>.
Gron, Kurt, and Sylvia Atsalis, eds. “Mouse Lemur Microcebus.” Primate Info Net. Wisconsin
Primate Research Library, 21 Nov. 2011. Web. 1 Mar. 2012.
<http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/mouse_lemur/taxon>.
“Hangin’ With Mouse Lemurs.” Squidoo. N.p., 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.squidoo.com/Mouse-Lemur>.
Keim, Brandon. “Endangered lemurs survived ancient AIDS epidemic.” Wired.co.UK. N.p., 28
Jan. 2009. Web. 24 Mar. 2012. <http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2008-12/16/lemurssurvived-aids-outbreak>.
“Madagascar Climate Information.” Climate Temperature info. N.p., 22 July 2009. Web. 25 Mar.
2012. <http://www.climatetemp.info/madagascar/>.
“Madagascar Plants.” Rainforest facts. N.p., 2012. Web. 1 Mar. 2012. <http://www.rainforestfacts.com/madagascar-plants.html>.
“Mouse Lemurs and Satellite view of flood.” The New York Times. The New York Times
Company, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2012.
<http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/05/09/science/050908-Sciencepix_index.html>.