Category:Greater Dwarf Lemur

Domain: Eukaryota • Regnum: Animalia • Phylum: Chordata • Subphylum: Vertebrata • Infraphylum: Gnathostomata • Superclassis: Tetrapoda • Classis: Mammalia • Subclassis: Theria • Infraclassis: Eutheria • Ordo: Primates • Subordo: Strepsirrhini • Infraordo: Lemuriformes • Superfamilia: Cheirogaleoidea • Familia: Cheirogaleidae • Genus: Cheirogaleus • Species: Cheirogaleus major É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812

The greater dwarf lemur or Geoffroy's dwarf lemur lives near the eastern coast of Madagascar in the primary and secondary forests and in the dry scrub areas. They have their greatest activity at night and sleep much of the day in nests made of branches, leaves, and grass, or hollowed sections of trees nicely padded with leaves.

They eat mainly fruits, flowers, and nectar, yet they have also been known to consume insects and small vertebrates. Flower nectar is the main part of their diet in November and December, which is the beginning of the hot, rainy season in Madagascar. At the end of the rainy season (November - April), the tail, where the lemur's fat is stored, becomes swollen. During the dry seasons, the lemurs become more dormant as their is less food.

The greater dwarf lemurs predators include the ring-tailed mongoose (Galidia elegans) during the dry season, the Malagasy tree boa (Boa manditra), the Madagascar buzzard (Buteo brachypterus), and possibly the Fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox - a cat-like carnivorous mammal).