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Monkey lemur | |
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Archaeolemur majori skulls | |
Scientific classification![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Primates |
Suborder: | Strepsirrhini |
Superfamily: | Lemuroidea |
Family: | †Archaeolemuridae G. Grandidier, 1905[1][2] |
Genera | |
Themonkey lemurs[3] orbaboon lemurs[4] (Archaeolemuridae) are a recentlyextinct family oflemurs known from skeletal remains from sites on Madagascar dated to 1000 to 3000 years ago.[4]
The monkey lemur family is divided into two genera,Hadropithecus andArchaeolemur, and three species.
Reconstructions indicate that the extinct lemurs did not climb very often and imply that they were much more adept atterrestrial living, more than any other extant strepsirrhhine; they are not believed to have been exclusively terrestrial, but rather to have had a combined habitat of ground and arboreal life. A modest degree of curvature found in the remains support this idea.[clarification needed]
The genusArchaeolemur consists of two known species,Archaeolemur edwardsi andArchaeolemur majori. The hands and feet are very robust and large in size, but are very short, and said to be closer to the likeness of ababoon's hand. The hind-limbs are also known to be short, which implies that the hands and feet are relatively short for the lemur's body weight.Archaeolemur is unique in the combination of post-cranial features.[clarification needed] The overall look of the lemur was an animal with relatively short and stocky proportions which gave them limitedleaping abilities. This indicates thatArchaeolemur may have ranged over more open habitat, which is consistent with its subfossil distribution over much of Madagascar, implying that they tolerated a wide range of habitats.Archaeolemur are thought to be omnivores from thefossilized droppings of a younger individual. An imaging technique shows pictures of the mandibles, showing the bone structure of the mouth. Further studies on their enamel indicate thatArchaeolemur also had the ability to exploit resources that may have been indigestible to other species, showing a greatplasticity in their dietary tracts as well. This may have helpedArchaeolemur persist after the arrival of humans in Madagascar, as it was one of the last subfossil lemurs to become extinct.
Archaeolemuridae placement within the lemur phylogeny[5][6][7] |
Hadropithecus stenognathus is theonly species of the genusHadropithecus, and is commonly referred to as the "baboon lemur". The species was discovered in Madagascar in the year 1899 byLudwig Lorenz von Liburnau, who associated the monkey lemurs with apes. Three years later, in 1902, Liburnau classifiedHadropithecus as a lemur. Liburnau continued to make distinctions by reconstruction of certain skulls which reaffirmed that the monkey lemurs are a sister family tosloth lemurs. In an article analyzing thedental microwear of the Archaeolemuridae, some important information was discovered through fossilized teeth. This in turn helped distinguish between certain characteristics of the monkey lemurs compared tomegaladapids. The two families occasionally had similar diets, observed from the overlapping textures of their dental microwear. However, the two families’ dental microwear differed at some points, indicating that archaeolemurids had a diet containing a variety of harder foods.H. stenognathus possessed similar cranial stricture and dental portions to hominins.Carbon isotope data show that they consumedCAM orC4 plants. The prior assumption thatH. stenognathus ateC3 plants which included large seeds and hard fruits were wrong because those foods were too strong for the animal's teeth. Testing the carbon samples along southern and southwestern Madagascar whereH. stenognathus once lived and was endemic to, scientists found high values of carbon isotopes tied to the C4 and CAM groups of plants. The large teeth were meant to extract the nutrients from food that needed incisional, but not tough preparation.H. stenognathus was well-suited to processing large amounts of small and/or flat, displacement-limited foods, rather than a previously thought diet of resistant, stress-limited foods. The species lived in environments in southern and southwestern Madagascar, where it is thought to have consumedbulbs andcorms ofgrasses andsedges comprising the bulk of its diet.
H. stenognathus may have survived until the late1st Millennium CE. It was driven to extinction mainly by human activity, like many other lemurs of Madagascar. However, it became extinct sooner thanArchaeolemur, itssister genus. The last known record ofHadropithecus was dated to around 444-772 CE. It is believed thatHadropithecus was a relatively rare lemur, based on a lower number of subfossils recorded. Similar to the sloth lemur, Hadropithecus was a large, slow, specialized lemur, that grazed and fed on seeds.Archaeolemur was more generalized, which may have allowed it to persist longer. Although it is not completely verified,Hadropithecus's large body and large brain, compared to other species, has led to the belief that it would have reproduced fairly slowly, making it more susceptible to extinction. The low reproductive rate goes hand in hand withweaning age -Hadropithecus would not have weaned its young before 2.75 years of age, or even 3 years, giving it one of the slowestlife cycles of any lemur. It is believed thatHadropithecus would have not given birth more than once every other year. In addition,Hadropithecus would have spent most, if not all, of its time on the ground, making it readily available for hunting and exploitation by humans. It not only would have faced pressure from humans, but also from domesticlivestock, which were grazers as well. Though it could have climbed trees, it lacked adaptation for suspension or leaping.