Cytogenetic study of the endemic malagasy lemurs subfamily Cheirogaleinae Gregory 1915

Abstract Karyotypes were determined on 27 lemurs from six species of what has been called the “subfamily” of Cheirogaleinae : Microcebus murinus murinus (2), M. murinus rufus (2), M. coquereli (5), Phaner furcifer (6), Cheirogaleus medius (9) , and C. major (3). The cytogenetic study of these animals reveals that this “subfamily” contains in fact two groups, (a) — Microcebus and Cheirogaleus , and (b) — Phaner. The karyotype of the first two genera has a fundamental number (FN) equal to 66 and the karyotype of the third genus has an FN equal to 62. This result and the fact that Phaner has a particular scent‐marking gland, knuckle pads, and finger prints markedly different from those of other genera agree with the view that this animal belongs to a special subfamily, Phanerinae, while the two other genera constitute the subfamily of Cheirogaleinae. These two subfamilies constitute the family of Cheirogaleidae.