Saturday, July 9, 2016

Mongoose lemur

The mongoose lemur is a small primate in the lemur family native to Madagascar and the Comoros. It is critically endangered and if all the animals' habitats disappear, we'll have to bring them to the Comoros. Over 80% of Madagascar's forests have been destroyed by humans. Not only should we save Madagascar's endangered animals, we should also save Madagascar's poor people. Most captive specimens can survive in captivity longer than in the wild because mongoose lemurs can live in the wild from 18-20 years and in captivity, 26 years. Lemurs are the best known animals of Madagascar but Madagascar has carnivores too, including mongooses, civets, and fossas. Fossas are cat-like creatures that look like a cross between a dog and a cougar and are the top predators of Madagascar. They are pretty much the major predators of most animals. Harrier hawks are also the major predators of lemurs. Ring tailed mongooses are also the natural predators of small lemurs but they are also the major predators of tenrecs. There are 11 native species in total; The Modern fossa, Giant fossa, Eastern falanouc, Western falanouc, Malagasy civet, Ring tailed mongoose, Grandidier's mongoose, Broad striped mongoose, Narrow striped mongoose, Brown tailed mongoose, and Durrell's vontsira. The word lemur is actually a Latin word for ghost or spirit. You must likely believe that Madagascar is the only place where lemurs live, but there is one more place where they live; The Comoros islands. Millions of years ago, there was a different type of super continent called Gondwana and lemurs covered the whole land mass. About 60 million years ago, then they lived in Africa and the monkeys almost competed all the lemurs living there. 40 million years later, there was a violent storm that swept them away by rafting to Madagascar and possibly the Comoros by populating them. Other mammals made it there such as flying foxes, narrow striped mongooses, and other animals. The current moves South today, but about 40 million years ago, the current moved quickly Eastward towards the island.

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