A tiny, new species of primate discovered on the African island nation of Madagascar has been named in honor of a scientist at Chicago's Field Museum.
The mouse lemur has been scientifically named "Microcebus lehilahytsara," the latter of which means "good man'' in the local language, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Wednesday.
The name is in recognition of Steve Goodman's 20 years spent on an inventory of the forests of Madagascar.
Goodman told the Sun-Times most animals in Madagascar are found nowhere else on Earth.
A profile of Goodman in Science Magazine -- headlined the "Bohemian of Biology" -- described how, as a rebellious teen, Goodman declared himself "uncomfortable" living indoors. At 14, he began sleeping outside.
He wandered the world until finding a home in Madagascar, "a place I could sink my teeth into."
Copyright 2005 by United Press International
Related stories:
Second Rare Aye-Aye Born at Duke Lemur Center
(PhysOrg.com) -- Ardrey and Merlin, rare, nocturnal aye-ayes from Madagascar, are pleased to announce the birth of their second child, a male, early on July 23 at the Duke Lemur Center.
Lemur's evolutionary history may shed light on our own
After swabbing the cheeks of more than 200 lemurs and related primates to collect their DNA, researchers at the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP) and Duke Lemur Center now have a much clearer picture of their evolutionary family tree.
Scientists Discover 'Giant Fossil Frog from Hell'
A giant frog fossil from Madagascar dubbed Beelzebufo or ‘the frog from Hell' has been identified by scientists from UCL (University College London) and Stony Brook University, New York. The discovery of the 70 million year-old fossil frog, of a kind once thought unique to South America, lends weight to a new theory that Madagascar, India and South America were linked until late in the Age of Dinosaurs.
Surviving pioneer lemurs celebrate a decade in the rain forest
Sarph lives. He's nearly 15 years old, and he knows where the predators lurk, where to find food, and how to make a baby with his wild-born mate.
Extinction threat growing for mankind's closest living relatives
Mankind’s closest living relatives – the world’s apes, monkeys, lemurs and other primates – are under unprecedented threat from destruction of tropical forests, illegal wildlife trade and commercial bushmeat hunting, with 29 percent of all species in danger of going extinct, according to a new report by the Primate Specialist Group of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission (SSC) and the International Primatological Society (IPS), in collaboration with Conservation International (CI).
Polls may underestimate Obama's support by 3 to 4 percent, researchers say
(PhysOrg.com) -- Current polls of the presidential election may be underestimating Barack Obama's support by 3 to 4 percent nationally and possibly larger margins in the Southeast and some strongly Republican states, according to University of Washington researchers.
Scientists identify gene that may make humans more vulnerable to pulmonary tuberculosis
Researchers from the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and its collaborators have now identified for the first time a new gene that may confer susceptibility to pulmonary tuberculosis. Their findings, published October 10 in the open access journal
PLoS Genetics, reported that a gene named Toll-like receptor 8 (TLR8), previously shown only to recognize some factors from viruses such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), has a probable role in human susceptibility to
Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections. The results from the study also found that males are more susceptible than females.
Scientists: Virginia shark's pup a 'virgin birth'
(AP) -- Scientists have confirmed the second case of a "virgin birth" in a shark. In a study reported Friday in the Journal of Fish Biology, scientists said DNA testing proved that a pup carried by a female Atlantic blacktip shark in the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center contained no genetic material from a male.