habitat_narrative
Terrestrial
The Lesser Galagos (Galago) are the most recent galagid genus to have diversified, and at least three species have evolved to occupy relatively open habitats within the last 1 million years. Galago is distributed across the bushveld and woodland of sub-Saharan Africa, where it encounters diverse habitat conditions, although the different species have remained morphologically very similar. It is possible that there are more cryptic species awaiting discovery within the group, north of the assessment region. Lesser Galagos can survive in relatively arid areas and are independent of water, satisfying their fluid requirements from their food. Galago moholi is found in all strata in savannah woodland from southern Tanzania southwards, and is particularly associated with Acacia spp. in South Africa which provide a source of gum. The species also occurs in miombo and mopane woodland, riverine gallery forest and at the edges of wooded areas. It is able to live in association with human settlements. Found from sea level to 1,500 m asl (Soutpansberg Mountains).Acacia and mopane may contain tree holes, and mopane often have hollowed-out trunks, which serve both as resting and breeding sites. Females also build leafy nests during the wet season or they simply sleep hidden among branches. At dawn the animals may form sleeping groups of two to seven individuals, who will huddle together in a furry ball to sleep through the daylight hours, but the animals disperse at dusk to forage alone or, occasionally, in pairs. Female offspring may remain with the mother on maturity, sharing her home range and raising offspring together with her, while male offspring disperse out of the maternal range at the age of about nine months. After moving, young males are non-territorial and range widely over the territories of older males and females. The territory of a âresidentâ or established male is smaller, overlapping those of one to three adult females.
Adult males are slightly larger than adult females when mature. Females give birth to 1â3 offspring during two birth seasons, in October/early November and again in late January/early February (Doyle et al. 1971). In a mother-daughter partnership, the mother is usually the first to breed. After birth, the females experience a post-partum oestrus, giving them the chance to breed twice during a single summer/rainy season. This is a reproductive system geared to a highly unpredictable environment with high mortality rates for offspring and juveniles, indicating that Lesser Galagos â though widely distributed and relatively flexible ecologically â live in a challenging and often lethal environment. Whether the high frequency of multiple births reported for this species (approximately 60%) is consistent throughout the speciesâ range, or more prevalent in the most unpredictable parts (such as in South Africa and Namibia), has not been systematically investigated.
Galago moholi communicate chiefly using odour and sound, although they have excellent night vision and appear to recognise one another from a distance. Both males and females have sternal apocrine glands that secrete polysaccharides, and the animals can be seen rubbing their chests or mouths on sticks or protuberances in the areas they frequent most. Lesser Galagos also practice âurine-washingâ, coating the hands and feet with urine which is transferred to the fur of social group members during bouts of reciprocal grooming. Urine-washing dampens the hands and feet and may improve grip. It is often associated with fear or insecurity, and the animals will perform this stereotyped behaviour whenever they enter a new space that is not already saturated with their own odour. Galago moholi has an extensive vocal repertoire comprising up to 25 different calls that are emitted in a variety of contexts: alarm calls, threats, vocal advertisement by residents of a home range, gathering calls for group members prior to entry into the sleeping site, courtship calls by males to entice potentially receptive females, infant distress calls, and soothing contact calls by the mother to distressed infants. The advertisement call is peculiar to and diagnostic of the species.
Ecosystem and cultural services: Lesser Galagos are primarily insectivorous and gummivorous. They appear to have co-evolved with gum-producing trees and they help to control insect numbers (Bearder & Martin 1980). Moths are a special delicacy, many species of which are agricultural pests. The animalsâ penchant for nectar also suggests a role in pollination of indigenous plant species.
