The Rondo dwarf galago (''Paragalago rondoensis'') or Rondo bushbaby is a species of

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

in the family

Galagidae Galagos , also known as bush babies or ''nagapies'' (meaning "night monkeys" in Afrikaans), are small nocturnal primates native to continental, sub-Sahara Africa, and make up the family Galagidae (also sometimes called Galagonidae). They ar ...

. The dwarf galagos are the smallest members of the genus Galagoides. It weighs less than 100 grams, making it the smallest known galago. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

where its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is subtropical or tropical dry

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s. It lives in an area reported in 2012 to be less than 100 square kilometers and is threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

due to logging. While it was discovered in the 1950s, the Rondo dwarf galago was deemed data deficient until 1996. In 1996, the Rondo dwarf galago was fully described as a species. It is now listed as one of "

The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates is a list of highly endangered primate species selected and published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission (SSC) Primate Specialist Group (PSG), the I ...

Description

Galagos are small primates with long tails and large ears and eyes. They all have grooming claws, a tooth comb, and a pseudo-tongue. The Rondo dwarf galago can be distinguished from other dwarf galagos by its bottle brush tail. The tail is red in young Rondo dwarf galagos, and darkens with age. It also has a distinctive "double unit rolling call". Two soft units comprise the call. The first is a higher pitch sound that can be repeated up to six times at a constant tempo. This forms a phrase.

Ecology

The diet of the Rondo dwarf galago consists primarily of insects. The species also feeds on fruits and flowers. By clinging to forest life and leaping, the species can feed in the leaf litter and the understory. As nocturnal animals, they build daytime sleeping nests in the canopy. It is assumed that the Rondo dwarf galago gives birth to one or two young per year.

Habitat

The Rondo dwarf galago is typically found in coastal dry forest and scrub in forest patches that are on eastern facing slopes and escarpments.

Distribution

The Rondo dwarf galago is known to live along the coast of Tanzania at elevations between 50 and 900 meters above sea level. It is found specifically in eight isolated and threatened forest patches: Zaraninge Forest within

Saadani National Park Saadani National Park is a national park in Tanzania with an area of . It was officially gazetted in 2005 and is managed under the Tanzania National Parks Authority. It is located in southeastern Pangani District of Tanga Region and northeast Cha ...

Pwani Region Pwani Region () is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The Swahili word means 'coast'. With the town of Kibaha serving as the capital, the region borders the Tanga Region to the north, Morogoro Region to the west, Lindi Region to the ...

, Pande Game Reserve, Pugu/Kazimzumbwe in Kindondoni District of

Dar es Salaam Region Dar es Salaam Region () is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions and is located on the east coast of the country. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land and water areas of the nation state of Ma ...

Rondo The rondo or rondeau is a musical form that contains a principal theme (music), theme (sometimes called the "refrain") which alternates with one or more contrasting themes (generally called "episodes", but also referred to as "digressions" or "c ...

, Litipo, Chitoa, Ruawa and

Ziwani Ziwani, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is a small town in Coast Province of Kenya near the border with Tanzania. Transport It is served by a station on the national railway system o ...

Forest Reserves. The total known distribution encompasses an area of 92 km². The eight subpopulations can be classified into two broad populations, one in southwest Tanzania and the other about 400 km north from there, surrounding

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1350595 Rondo dwarf galago Endemic fauna of Tanzania Mammals of Tanzania Rondo dwarf galago Rondo dwarf galago Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Species that are or were threatened by logging Species that are or were threatened by habitat loss