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jake-head-shot.jpgJake Young is a MD/PhD student at Mount Sinai School of Medicine focusing in Neuroscience. He is due to graduate in 2032. He received a BS and a MS in Biological Sciences from Stanford University -- where he spent most of his time drinking heavily and building vegetable catapults instead of learning information that would now be eminently useful. When he is not failing terrifically to perform his sworn duties, he enjoys watching bad movies, ethnic food, and running.

Pure Pedantry is a blog about science -- social sciences and otherwise -- as well as academic and scientific culture. No one can live on science alone, so I also like to dwell on pop culture, periodically explore the humanities, and indulge in other types of geeky goodness.

Jake is joined periodically by two wonderful guest bloggers: Kara Contreary and Kate Seip. See the About Page.

DISCLAIMERS: 1) Jake Young is not a licensed physician (yet). He is merely a medical student. The information published on this site is not intended for use in medical decision making. Please seek advice from a licensed, medical professional before making any health decisions. 2) The opinions expressed are my own or those of my co-bloggers. They do not represent the views of SEED magazine or the educational establishments we currently attend.

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So Many Lemurs

Category: Aminals
Posted on: November 28, 2006 12:23 AM, by Jake Young

There you go, lemurs! Way to speciate:

mouselemur.jpg

The number of known species of the mouse lemur, the world's smallest primate, has increased by 25% with the description of three new species, bringing the total to 15.

Mouse lemurs are wide-eyed nocturnal animals that scamper around the forests of Madagascar, an island that harbors a tremendous diversity of wildlife.

Finding new examples of the tiny animals isn't a huge shock -- two new lemur species were reported in Madagascar just last year...Nonetheless, says Jorg Ganzhorn, head of the department of animal ecology and conservation at the University of Hamburg in Germany, and discoverer of several mouse lemurs himself, the new additions make a "very significant contribution" to our understanding of mouse lemur diversity.

...


Olivieri and her team traveled in remote areas in a beat-up four-wheel drive, which broke down several times during their six-month stints...They would set up camp for a few weeks at a time, hiring locals to cut trails and placing steel traps loaded with tasty bits of banana at 20-metre intervals. The team would check the traps each morning, with variable success - their record was 52 mouse lemurs captured over one four-night run, says Olivieri.

Taking tissue samples from the lemurs' ears could be a challenge, says Olivieri -- some were feisty when pulled from the traps, trying to bite and escape. But others were docile. "Some seemed quite happy to have something different," she says.

Oooohhhh!!! They're everywhere. (That was a Family Guy reference for those of you who missed it. Click below the fold.)

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