Northern Lesser Galago (Galago senegalensis) lives in savanna woodlands across Sub-Saharan Africa. It feeds on insects and fruit. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
Fascinating facts about the Northern Lesser Galago
- At just 130 mm long and weighing only 95-300 g, the Senegal bushbaby fits in the palm of your hand yet can leap 3-5 m in a single bound. Its hind-limb tarsus is elongated to one-third the shinbone, giving it the power of a miniature kangaroo. This extreme agility lets it escape predators and hunt insects across the dry savannah woodlands where it lives, turning a tiny body into a high-speed arboreal acrobat.
- Bushbabies time their births with the rains, breeding twice a year, once in November at the start of the rains and again in February when the rains end. After a gestation of 110-120 days, females give birth to 1-2 altricial infants that cling to the mother's fur before she carries them in her mouth.
- Adult female bushbabies guard territories that they share with their offspring, forming tight-knit female groups, while adult males hold overlapping ranges and typically mate with all females in the area. Males leave their mothers' territories after puberty, creating a social system where related females cooperate in raising young.
- In a 2007 study, Western chimpanzees at Täi forest fashioned spears from broken branches, sharpening them with their teeth before repeatedly stabbing into bushbaby roosts. Though the technique succeeded only once in five attempts for a young female chimp, at Fongoli, Senegal, bushbabies made up 75 % of females' prey and 47 % of males' prey.
- Four subspecies of Galago senegalensis span the continent from Senegal to Ethiopia, reflecting adaptation to varied dry habitats. The nominate G. s. senegalensis inhabits West Africa, while G. s. braccatus lives in Kenya, G. s. sotikae in Uganda, and G. s. dunni in Ethiopia.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeSub-Saharan Africa
HabitatSavanna woodlands
DietInsects and fruit
About the Northern Lesser Galago
In the moonlit savannas, the Northern Lesser Galago dances across the treetops, its enormous eyes glowing like lanterns as it pursues a nocturnal odyssey of insect-hunting and arboreal acrobatics. With a nimble grace, it springs from branch to branch, its long hind legs coiling and uncoiling like springs as it navigates the dark, silken threads of its forest realm. As it moves, the galago's large ears twitch and rotate, tuning into the faintest whispers of the night, a symphony of sounds that guide this tiny, big-eyed primate through its mystical world.
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