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Perrier's sifaka
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Perrier's sifaka
Perrier's sifaka (Propithecus perrieri) is a lemur endemic to Madagascar. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of diademed sifaka It has a very small range in northeastern Madagascar where its habitat is dry deciduous or semihumid forest. Part of its range is in protected areas. It is an almost entirely black sifaka and measures about 90 cm (35 in), half of which is a bushy tail. Females are slightly larger than males.
It moves in small family groups through the canopy feeding on fruit, leaves, flowers, buds, and seeds. Groups have territories around one hectare and vocalise with each other. The main threats faced by this sifaka are habitat destruction and fragmentation due to slash-and-burn agriculture, charcoal gathering, and logging. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as "critically endangered".
Perrier's sifaka was named in honor of Henri Perrier de La Bâthie by Louis Lavauden in 1931. The term "sifaka" is derivative of the terrestrial alarm vocalization produced by species of western sifakas belonging to the Propithecus verreauxi group. Because Perrier's sifaka belongs to the eastern (P. diadema) group, it does not produce such a vocalization.
The Antankarana people refer to the species as radjako, rajako, jakoe, or jakoey in honor of a legendary hero of the same name from whom they believe Perrier's sifakas are descended. An alternative narrative states that Radjako was a man who was hit with a spoon by his wife, which transformed him into a Perrier's sifaka. Elsewhere in Madagascar, Radjako appears in similar etiological myths for other lemur species, including the ring-tailed lemur and the indri. Radjako was borrowed into French as jacquot as a derogatory term for lemurs. Derivations of this term may be found in Bourbonnais Creole and Comorian languages.
Perrier's sifaka is also known as ankomba joby, which is Malagasy for "black lemur." This term can also refer to the male blue-eyed black lemur. Ankomba is a derivation of the Swahili word komba, which means galago.
Perrier's sifaka belongs to the P. diadema group of eastern sifakas within the Propithecus genus. Like all eastern sifakas except for Milne-Edwards's sifaka (P. edwardsi), it has a somatic number of 2n = 42. 18 autosomnal chromosomes are metacentric, 14 are submetacentric, and eight are acrocentric. The X chromosome is metacentric, and the Y chromosome is acrocentric. Perrier's sifaka could have previously had two additional acrocentric chromosomes that underwent a Robertsonian translocation, resulting in a metacentric chromosome. Perrier's sifaka and the silky sifaka (P. candidus) form a clade to the exclusion of the diademed sifaka (P. diadema) and Milne-Edwards's sifaka.
Like other eastern sifakas, Perrier's sifaka was previously considered to be a subspecies of a broader P. diadema species that included the silky sifaka, the diademed sifaka, and Milne-Edwards's sifaka. The consolidation of the eastern lemurs into a single species was widely accepted following the publication of Ernst Schwarz's 1931 revision of lemur taxonomy. A fifth subspecies known as the black sifaka (P. d. holomelas) was recognized prior to the 1980s, but was considered synonymous with Milne-Edwards's sifaka after Ian Tattersall found the two subspecies to be sympatric. The broad P. diadema species classification was largely abandoned due to mitochondrial evidence found by Mireya Mayor et al. which indicated that the genetic distance between the four subspecies met the criteria for speciation according to the phylogenetic species concept.
Perrier's sifaka is the smallest eastern sifaka. It has a body length of 85–92 cm, of which 42–46 cm are tail. It weighs 3.7–6.0 kg, with females tending to be heavier than males. Otherwise, there is little sexual dimorphism.
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Perrier's sifaka
Perrier's sifaka (Propithecus perrieri) is a lemur endemic to Madagascar. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of diademed sifaka It has a very small range in northeastern Madagascar where its habitat is dry deciduous or semihumid forest. Part of its range is in protected areas. It is an almost entirely black sifaka and measures about 90 cm (35 in), half of which is a bushy tail. Females are slightly larger than males.
It moves in small family groups through the canopy feeding on fruit, leaves, flowers, buds, and seeds. Groups have territories around one hectare and vocalise with each other. The main threats faced by this sifaka are habitat destruction and fragmentation due to slash-and-burn agriculture, charcoal gathering, and logging. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as "critically endangered".
Perrier's sifaka was named in honor of Henri Perrier de La Bâthie by Louis Lavauden in 1931. The term "sifaka" is derivative of the terrestrial alarm vocalization produced by species of western sifakas belonging to the Propithecus verreauxi group. Because Perrier's sifaka belongs to the eastern (P. diadema) group, it does not produce such a vocalization.
The Antankarana people refer to the species as radjako, rajako, jakoe, or jakoey in honor of a legendary hero of the same name from whom they believe Perrier's sifakas are descended. An alternative narrative states that Radjako was a man who was hit with a spoon by his wife, which transformed him into a Perrier's sifaka. Elsewhere in Madagascar, Radjako appears in similar etiological myths for other lemur species, including the ring-tailed lemur and the indri. Radjako was borrowed into French as jacquot as a derogatory term for lemurs. Derivations of this term may be found in Bourbonnais Creole and Comorian languages.
Perrier's sifaka is also known as ankomba joby, which is Malagasy for "black lemur." This term can also refer to the male blue-eyed black lemur. Ankomba is a derivation of the Swahili word komba, which means galago.
Perrier's sifaka belongs to the P. diadema group of eastern sifakas within the Propithecus genus. Like all eastern sifakas except for Milne-Edwards's sifaka (P. edwardsi), it has a somatic number of 2n = 42. 18 autosomnal chromosomes are metacentric, 14 are submetacentric, and eight are acrocentric. The X chromosome is metacentric, and the Y chromosome is acrocentric. Perrier's sifaka could have previously had two additional acrocentric chromosomes that underwent a Robertsonian translocation, resulting in a metacentric chromosome. Perrier's sifaka and the silky sifaka (P. candidus) form a clade to the exclusion of the diademed sifaka (P. diadema) and Milne-Edwards's sifaka.
Like other eastern sifakas, Perrier's sifaka was previously considered to be a subspecies of a broader P. diadema species that included the silky sifaka, the diademed sifaka, and Milne-Edwards's sifaka. The consolidation of the eastern lemurs into a single species was widely accepted following the publication of Ernst Schwarz's 1931 revision of lemur taxonomy. A fifth subspecies known as the black sifaka (P. d. holomelas) was recognized prior to the 1980s, but was considered synonymous with Milne-Edwards's sifaka after Ian Tattersall found the two subspecies to be sympatric. The broad P. diadema species classification was largely abandoned due to mitochondrial evidence found by Mireya Mayor et al. which indicated that the genetic distance between the four subspecies met the criteria for speciation according to the phylogenetic species concept.
Perrier's sifaka is the smallest eastern sifaka. It has a body length of 85–92 cm, of which 42–46 cm are tail. It weighs 3.7–6.0 kg, with females tending to be heavier than males. Otherwise, there is little sexual dimorphism.
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