The western dwarf galagos are a group of three species of

strepsirrhine Strepsirrhini or Strepsirhini (; ) is a Order (biology), suborder of primates that includes the Lemuriformes, lemuriform primates, which consist of the lemurs of Fauna of Madagascar, Madagascar, galagos ("bushbabies") and pottos from Fauna of A ...

primate Primates are a diverse order (biology), order of mammals. They are divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include the Tarsiiformes, tarsiers and ...

s, native to western and central

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. They are classified in the genus ''Galagoides'' of 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 are ...

. The eastern dwarf galagos (''P. cocos, P. granti, P. orinus, P. rondoensis,'' and ''P. zanzibaricus'') have been moved to their own genus, '' Paragalago'', based on genetic evidence and differences in vocalization. The two genera are not

sister taxa In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and t ...

and thus may have evolved their small sizes via

parallel evolution Parallel evolution is the similar development of a trait in distinct species that are not closely related, but share a similar original trait in response to similar evolutionary pressure.Zhang, J. and Kumar, S. 1997Detection of convergent and paral ...

. They are separated by the

East African Rift The East African Rift (EAR) or East African Rift System (EARS) is an active continental rift zone in East Africa. The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22–25 million years ago. In the past it was considered to be part of a ...

. The first genus to be introduced to scientific literature was ''

Galago 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 are ...

'' by Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire. The genus was based on a smaller species from West Africa. Later, the genus ''Galagoides'' was introduced by Sir Andrew Smith in 1833. Smith wanted to differentiate the dwarf (''Gd. demidovii'') and the lesser galagos from the 'true galagos.' ''

Otolemur The greater galagos or thick-tailed bushbabies are three species of strepsirrhine primates. They are classified in the genus ''Otolemur'' in the family Galagidae. Historical classification and species discovery The diversity of galago species ...

'' was later introduced to indicate the greater galagos by Coquerel in 1859. Before the 21st century, three new dwarf galagos were recognized as species.

''Galagoides'' species

* Prince Demidoff's bushbaby — ''Gs. demidovii'' * Angolan dwarf galago — ''Gs. kumbirensis'' * Thomas's bushbaby — ''Gs. thomasi''

References

External links

Galagidae Galagos Primates of Africa Taxa named by Andrew Smith (zoologist) Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa described in 1833 {{primate-stub