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Phaner electromontis Groves and Tattersall, 1991

Scientific name: 
Scientist name: 
Groves and Tattersall, 1991
Malagasy: 
Tanta
English: 
Montagne d’ Ambre Fork-marked Lemur
German: 
Montagne d’ Ambre-Gabelstreifenmaki
Other english: 
Amber Mountain Fork-marked Lemur
French: 
Phaner de la Montagne d’Ambre, Lémurien à fourche de la Montagne d’Ambre
Taxa: 

Species

Identification

Phaner electromontis is a light gray species of fork-marked lemur. There are no published body measurements available for this species, but three animals from Montagne d’Ambre (one male and two females) measured by E. E. Louis Jr. (unpubl.) averaged 27.2 ±0.4 cm in head-body length; 34.4 ±0.2 cm in tail length, and 387 ±35 g in weight. The dorsal and ventral coats are light gray. The crown fork is thick and black, and a well- defined dorsal midline stripe extends all the way to the rump. The distal third of the tail is dark, as are the hands and feet. As with all Phaner, location is the best indication as to which species is being seen in the wild.
This species is sympatric with several other nocturnal lemurs, including Microcebus, Cheirogaleus, and Lepilemur. However, it can readily be distinguished from Microcebus by its size, and from all others by its rapid movements, the forked pattern on the crown, the very loud and distinctive vocalizations, and the unusual head-bobbing movements, which are readily visible in the beam of a flashlight.