Bushbabies Research Paper

The name “bushbaby” originates to the animal’s vocalizations, thought to sound like the cries of an infant (“Bushbabies brought,” 2012). Overall, there are currently 20 recognized species of bushbabies separated in three categories: the greater bushbabies (Otolemur), needle-clawed bushbabies (Euoticus), and the lesser bushbabies (Galago) (“Bushbabies brought,” 2012). All bushbabies belong to the Strepsirrhini lineage. In the genera of Galago, there are 14 species. The species that I will focus on for the purpose of this paper is Galago moholi bushbabies (G. moholi). It can be hard to distinguish bushbaby species from one another by morphology alone; instead they focus on vocalizations and genetics to classify them.
G. moholi are small prosimian primates that have distinctive features made specifically for nocturnal and arboreal existence (“Bushbabies brought,” 2012). They have large round orange eyes for night vision, oversized naked ears for acute hearing, and long tails for balance (“Bushbabies brought,” 2012). Their huge orange eyes are surrounded by thick, dark, eye-rings

moholi are omnivorous. In general, lesser bushbabies’ diet is insects, small animals, fruit, and tree gum. The G. moholi bushbabies specialized diet consists of feeding on small arthropods and Acacia gum (Scheun et al., 2014, p. 359). Arthropods are insects, while Acacia gum is sap from trees. In the winter months, one of the G. moholis’ main food sources, the arthropods, greatly decreases in size. Bushbabies then concentrate their efforts on gum foraging to meet its energy demands. G. moholi bushbabies today are found mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. The lesser bushbaby has versatile types of habitats. They are spread across Southern Africa in Acacia woodlands, savannah woodlands, and gallery forests (Martin, 2004, p. 24). They range from dry, thorny scrub to evergreen tropical rainforests (Martin, 2004, p. 24). G. moholi are often found resting or breeding in the hollows of Acacia