By Elizabeth Hodgson
Geographic Range
Hapalemur griseus is found in Madagascar, where it ranges through the eastern rainforests.
Other Geographic Terms:
island endemic 
.
Reproduction
Hapalemur griseus is monogamous.
Mating systems:
monogamous .
The gentle gray lemur is a seasonal breeder, with gestation length shorter than in most anthropoids (and shorter than expected based on maternal body weight). Female lemurs in a group have synchronous estrous cycles, which has decreased the need for sexual contests of males for females.
Key reproductive features:
iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous .
Infants relatively altricial (born at an early stage of development).
Parental investment:
altricial ; pre-fertilization (protecting: female); pre-hatching/birth (provisioning: female, protecting: female); pre-weaning/fledging (provisioning: female, protecting: female); pre-independence (provisioning: female, protecting: female).
Behavior
The gray gentle lemur is active at all hours of the day. This lemur lives mostly in pairs or small social groups consisting of 3-6 individuals, with individual male-female pairs having affiliative and affinitive bonds. Related to the estrous synchrony of females, and the resulting lack of sexual competition of males for females, sexual dimporphism is not apparent. Females are dominant over males. Infant care is characterized by parking (leaving infants hidden in nests, holes, or vegetation) or rarely carrying.
Key behaviors:
diurnal ; nocturnal ; motile ; social ; dominance hierarchies .
Food Habits
The gray gentle lemur is unique in that they are one of only three related primate species in the world known to live on bamboo. They consume the leaves, which are high in silica and contain high levels of cyanide.
Plant Foods:
leaves.
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Sometimes eaten by humans.
Conservation Status
The gentle gray lemur is often trapped and killed. It is also seriously threatened by habitat destruction. Appendix I, Endangered.
Other Comments
Smallest of the bamboo eating species, the gray gentle lemure weighs less than 2 lbs. It has retained a number of characteristics believed to be primitive characteristics compared to other primates--less expansion of the brain in relation to body size, and the area of the brain associated with olfaction is relatively large. Olfactory signals play an importan role in communication. These lemurs also have a specialized anterior dentition, perhaps related to their diet of bamboo.
Contributors
Elizabeth Hodgson (author), University of Michigan.
