Lesser Iron-gray Dwarf Lemur

Open encyclopedia reference

The lesser iron-gray dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus minusculus), or large iron-gray dwarf lemur, is a small nocturnal lemur endemic to Madagascar. It is nocturnal and an arboreal quadruped, and is not very agile. It produces three types of vocalisation: a squeak, which is high in pitch and is produced with the mouth closed, and is used between infants and their mothers; a whistle, which is higher in pitch than the squeak, so it is hard to hear with human ears, and is used as a communicative and possibly territorial call; and a grunt, which is usually given in series and is very powerful, used when an individual is being attacked in its nest.

This species is only known to exist from one museum specimen from Ambositra, north of Fianarantsoa in east-central Madagascar. As of 2010, no studies in the wild have been conducted of the lesser iron-gray dwarf lemur, and it is unknown whether it still survives in this region. There are no reports of it being kept in captivity.

Wikipedia contributors, Lesser iron-gray dwarf lemur; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:47:56.038244+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Cheirogaleus minusculus Groves, 2000

Name authority

Groves, 2000

Common name

Lesser Iron-gray Dwarf Lemur

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Primates

Family

Cheirogaleidae

Genus

Cheirogaleus

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderPrimates Linnaeus, 1758
12. suborderStrepsirrhini É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812
13. infraorderLemuriformes Gray, 1821
14. superfamilyCheirogaleoidea Gray, 1873
15. familyCheirogaleidae Gray, 1873
16. genusCheirogaleus É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812
17. speciesCheirogaleus minusculus Groves, 2000

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Cheirogaleus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 39 records assigned to Cheirogaleidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=944045 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:5Y3NY. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.