Lepilemur edwardsi
Creators: name: Russell A. Mittermeier
name: Anthony B. Rylands
name: Don E. Wilson
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2013
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Primates
Lepilemuridae
Lepilemur
Lepilemur edwardsi

description: 19.
Milne-Edwards’s Sportive Lemur
Lepilemur edwardsi
French: Lépilémur de Milne-Edwards / German: Milne-Edwards-Wieselmaki / Spanish: Lémur saltador de Milne-Edwards
Other common names: Milne-Edwards’s Weasel Lemur
Taxonomy. Lepidolemur edwardsi Forsyth Major, 1894,
Madagascar, Betsaka Bay, Bombetoka.
This species is monotypic.
Distribution. NW Madagascar, found discontinuously from N of the Betsiboka River to the Mahajamba River. This is a much-reduced distribution compared to older accounts, but previous range descriptions were based on the incorrect assignment of a museum specimen; this new assessment is supported by strong genetic evidence. Further study is needed north of Ankarafantsika National Park to determine the N extent of the range.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 26-29 cm, tail 26-29 cm; weight 965 g. One of the larger species of sportive lemurs. The dorsal coat is beige-gray with strong reddish tones and (usually) a darker median stripe down the back, while the shoulders, forelimbs, and upper thighs are more chestnut-brown. The underside is gray with creamy patches, and thetail is reddish dorsally and grayish ventrally, often tipped with white. The face is darkish gray to brown, and the ears are prominent.
Habitat. Tropical dry deciduous lowland forest up to 450 m above sea level.
Food and Feeding. As with other sportive lemurs, leaves are a dietary mainstay (70-100% of the diet), but a small amountoffruits, flowers, and fleshy seeds are also eaten. This species eats lower quality leaves at Ankarafantsika National Park than at other field sites, a difference that appears to result from food competition with woolly lemurs (Avahi). Milne-Edwards’s Sportive Lemur eats older leaves, and even dead and dying leaves of Tabernaemontana modesta (Apocynaceae).
Breeding. Infanticide has been reported, but otherwise there is no specific information available for this species.
Activity patterns. Nocturnal and arboreal. This species is most active in the first few hours after dusk, after which foraging is interspersed with periods ofrest.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Milne-Edwards’s Sportive Lemur has been studied in Ankarafantsika National Park. Home ranges appear to be about 1 ha and are vigorously defended with loud vocalizations and displays of branch-shaking. Loud calls, presumably used for territorial defense against other pairs, include a high-pitched call shared by both sexes, two different barks and a “oooai” call by only females, and five calls by only males (“ouah,” shrill, squeal, and two types of shrill chuckle). Several individuals may sleep in the same shelter during the day, but they tend to be solitary foragers during the night. In Ankarafantsika National Park, 92% of sleeping sites used by Milne-Edwards’s Sportive Lemur were tree holes and only 8% were vegetation tangles. On average, tree holes were 4-4 m above the ground and had an entrance size of 574 cm? a volume of 24-2 1, a depth of 1-5 m, and 11 cm thick walls.
Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix I. Classified as Vulnerable on The IUCN Red List. However, at the IUCN/SSC Lemur Red-Listing Workshop held in July 2012, L. edwardsi was assessed as endangered. The distribution of Milne-Edwards’s Sportive Lemur has been reduced considerably in recent years because of taxonomic splitting, but it remains common in most places where it is found. Threats include forest destruction, fires set to create new pasture for livestock, and, in some areas, hunting for food. Ankarafantsika National Park is the only protected area where it occurs; its density there is 60 ind/km* A recent genetic and demographic study showed signs of a demographic collapse of about two orders of magnitude in two populations of Milne-Edwards’s Sportive Lemurs—a decline that apparently started during the last few hundred years, coinciding with intensified human disturbance.
Bibliography. Albignac (1981a), Craul et al. (2007), Ganzhorn (1988, 1993), Garbutt (2007), Groves (2001), Louis, Engberg et al. (2006), Mittermeier et al. (2010), Nicoll & Langrand (1989), Pastorini et al. (2003), Rasoloharijaona et al. (2000), Razanahoera-Rakotomalala (1981), Smith & Jungers (1997), Thalmann (2001), Warren & Crompton (1997a), Zaramody et al. (2005).
description: Published as part of Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson, 2013, Lepilemuridae, pp. 66-75 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 3 Primates, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 73, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6635114