6. Bongolava Mouse Lemur Microcebus bongolavensis French: Microcébe du Bongolava / German: Bongolava-Mausmaki / Spanish: Lémur ratén de Bongolava Taxonomy. Microcebus bongolavensis Olivieri et al., 2007, Madagascar, province of Mahajanga, a forest fragment (c.15° 30° S, 47° 28’ E) belonging to the village of Ambodimahabibo, near Port-Bergé. This species is monotypic. Distribution. NW Madagascar, known only from three small forest fragments in the area around Port-Bergé, between the Mahajamba-Est and Sofia rivers. Descriptive notes. Head—body 9-12.2 cm, tail 14.7-17.4 cm; weight c.54 g. The Bongolava Mouse Lemur is a large reddish form, very similar in appearance to the Ambarijeby Mouse Lemur (M. danfossi) and the Golden-brown Mouse Lemur (M. ravelobensis). Fur is short, dense, and bicolored, being maroon on the dorsum with an orange tinge (sometimes showing a faint dorsal line). The tail is the same color as the body, although fur changes from short and dense on the proximal part to longer and sparser at the tip. The ventrum is creamy-white. Color of the head varies. Some (possibly young) individuals have a uniformly rufous to brown head, while others have this color only at a triangularly shaped part over their eyes, with a pale grayish crown. There is a distinct white stripe between the eyes, and ears are rufous. Hands and feet are poorly haired and are the same white as between the eyes. Habitat. Dense primary forest fragments in mountainous areas. Food and Feeding. There is no specific information available for this species, but undoubtedly fruits and insects are eaten, and possibly other items identified in the diets of other members of the genus. Breeding. There is no information available for this species. Activity patterns. The Bongolava Mouse Lemur is nocturnal and arboreal. Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no information available for this species. Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix I. Classified as Data Deficient on The [UCN Red List. However, at the IUCN/SSC Lemur Red-Listing Workshop held in July 2012, the Bongolava Mouse Lemur was assessed as endangered due to its small extent of occurrence and ongoing decline. The Bongolava Mouse Lemuris threatened by deforestation in its already restricted distribution. It is not known to occur in any protected areas, but it is found in the Ambodimahabibo Classified Forest and may also be present in the Bongolava Classified Forest. Consideration should be given to establishing a protected area that includes the latter—being the only relatively large forest fragment left within the known distribution of the Bongolava Mouse Lemur. Almost all sampled populations of the Bongolava Mouse Lemur, along with those of the other north-western species of Microcebus, Ambarijeby and Golden-brown mouse lemurs, show genetic evidence ofa relatively rapid crash in population size of about two orders of magnitude. This crash likely occurred within the last 500 years, thus coinciding with accelerated deforestation due to human population expansion in Madagascar. Bibliography. Mittermeier et al. (2010), Olivieri, Guschanski & Radespiel (2006), Olivieri, Sousa et al. (2008), Olivieri, Zimmermann etal. (2007).

Published as part of Russell A. Mittermeier, Anthony B. Rylands & Don E. Wilson, 2013, Cheirogaleidae, pp. 28-65 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 3 Primates, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 53, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6639118