05/12/2021
Getting back into some lemur taxonomy & etymology today with the Cheirogaleidae family.
My favorites are the dwarf lemurs, genus Cheirogaleus. There are 9 species recognized today (and counting) from 4 major lineages. There are the fat-tailed dwarf lemurs (the medius lineage); the furry-eared dwarf lemurs (the crossleyi lineage); the greater dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus major); and Sibree’s dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus sibreei).
The term ‘Cheirogaleus’ comes from the greek words for ‘hand’ (cheir) and ‘weasel’ (gale). Tracing the etymology, dwarf lemurs “got their name because of their similarities with cats … Saint-Hilaire (1812) wrote that Cheirogaleus connects the lemurs to the carnivorans, just as the aye-aye was thought to connect them with rodents. He therefore chose an analogous name to the aye-aye’s former generic name, Cheiromys”, which derives from the greek words for ‘hand’ (cheir) and ‘mouse’ (mys). Thus, while aye-ayes were described as “hand-mice,” dwarf lemurs were “hand-weasels!”
One Malagasy term for these lemurs is ‘matavy rambo’, which literally translates to ‘fat’ (matavy) and ‘tail’ (rambo).
Photos of Mbola, a Cheirogaleus crossleyi, in Madagascar, and Bustard, a Cheirogaleus medius, at the .
Information and quotes from Dunkel et al. (2011/2012). Giant rabbits, marmosets, and British comedies: etymology of lemur names, part I.
