Seven species of dwarf lemurs (
Cheirogaleus spp.) are currently recognized after a recent revision of the genus. During a field study in southeastern Madagascar, we observed 3 distinct morphotypes of
Cheirogaleus resembling
Cheirogaleus medius,
C. major and
C. crossleyi. In particular, for
Cheirogaleus crossleyi southeastern Madagascar was far away from the known distribution range of the species when referring to the recent revision of the genus. In order to clarify the taxonomic status of the 3 morphotypes, we compared field samples from southeastern Madagascar to museum specimens from several locations in Madagascar and to field samples from Kirindy/CFPF, western Madagascar by genetic analyses using the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. Genetic data yield strong support for 2 of the 3 morphotypes to represent
Cheirogaleus medius and
C. major. The third morphotype is genetically closely related to
Cheirogaleus crossleyi, albeit more distantly than the other 2 morphotypes to the respective reference samples. The genetic distance is related to a considerable geographic distance between the location of our field study and the origin of the respective reference specimen, because
Cheirogaleus crossleyi had been reported only from northern Madagascar. Our field observations indicate an isolated population in southeastern Madagascar. We propose to identify them as
Cheirogaleus crossleyi and discuss the population genetic and biogeographic considerations supporting this conclusion.
Keywords biogeography - Cheirogaleus - mitochondrial DNA - museum specimens