Greater dwarf lemur
Cheirogaleus major É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812
The greater dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus major) is a species in the family Cheirogaleidae, order Primates. Recorded adults weigh 420.1 g to 450 g and live up to 13.4 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.
Quick facts about the greater dwarf lemur
- Weight
- 420.1 g – 450 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 13.4 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 15 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 70.8 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.26src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 13.8 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the greater dwarf lemur live?
Not recorded
What is the greater dwarf lemur?
The greater dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus major), or the Geoffroy's dwarf lemur, is a lemur that is widely distributed over the primary and secondary forests near the eastern coast of Madagascar. They are also found in northern parts of Madagascar. Greater dwarf lemurs live in forests and dry scrub areas. The head and body of the greater dwarf lemur can range from 167 to 264 millimeters in length, and 164 to 600 grams. Their tails can range from 195 to 310 millimeters in length.
Greater dwarf lemurs are nocturnal. During the day, they sleep in nests of twigs, leaves, and grass, or hollowed sections of trees padded with dry leaves.
Their diet consists mostly of fruits, flowers, and nectar. Flower nectar is an important part of the diet from November to December. Sometimes they will also eat insects and small vertebrates. During the dry seasons they will store fat in their tail and become dormant.
Its fur is short, dense, grey or reddish brown, and there are dark circles of fur around the eyes. At the end of the wet season the tail will become somewhat swollen with fat.
The greater dwarf lemur is preyed upon by the ring-tailed mongoose (Galidia elegans) during the dormant season. Other predators the Malagasy tree boa (Boa manditra), the Madagascar buzzard (Buteo brachypterus), and it is thought probably by the fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) as well, since the latter preys on other lemurs.
From the Wikipedia article “Greater dwarf lemur” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Greater_dwarf_lemur&oldid=1373882400), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the greater dwarf lemur endangered?
The greater dwarf lemur is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species. What the categories mean.
How is the greater dwarf lemur classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderPrimates
- familyCheirogaleidae
- genusCheirogaleus
- SpeciesCheirogaleus major É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812
Synonyms Cheirogaleus milii, Cheirogaleus typicus, Lemur commersonii, Mioxicebus griseus, Myspithecus typus
Other names and names in other languages (28)
- Geoffroy's dwarf lemurEnglish
- Geoffroy's dwarf lemurEnglish
- Geoffroy's dwarf lemurEnglish
- Geoffroy’s dwarf lemurEnglish
- Greater iron-grey dwarf lemurEnglish
- Large iron-grey dwarf lemurEnglish
- ليمور قزم كبيرArabic
- maki velkýCzech
- Großer KatzenmakiGerman
- Brauner FettschwanzmakiGerman
- Großer FettschwanzmakiGerman
- Großer Katzenmaki (Großer Fettschwanzmaki)German
- Makis ColigordosSpanish
- Gran Lemur ArdillaSpanish
- Lemur Enano MayorSpanish
- Lémur Enano MayorSpanish
- rusko-oravamakiFinnish
- Grand CheirogaleFrench
- Chirogaleo brunoItalian
- Chirogaleo bruno (Chirogaleo maggiore)Italian
- Chirogaleo maggioreItalian
- オオコビトキツネザルJapanese
- Stor DverglemurNorwegian Bokmål
- Vanlig DvergmakiNorwegian Bokmål
- Grote KatmakiDutch
- lemurek większyPolish
- Крысиный лемурRussian
- 大鼠狐猴Chinese
Relatives of the greater dwarf lemur
Other species in the same genus Cheirogaleus.
Fat-tailed dwarf lemur
Cheirogaleus medius
Furry-eared dwarf lemur
Cheirogaleus crossleyi
Sibree's dwarf lemur
Cheirogaleus sibreei
Lesser iron-gray dwarf lemur
Cheirogaleus minusculus
Lavasoa dwarf lemur
Cheirogaleus lavasoensis
Andy Sabin's dwarf lemur
Cheirogaleus andysabini
CompareGreater dwarf lemur vs Fat-tailed dwarf lemurGreater dwarf lemur vs Furry-eared dwarf lemurGreater dwarf lemur vs Sibree's dwarf lemurGreater dwarf lemur vs Lesser iron-gray dwarf lemur
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the greater dwarf lemur?
An adult greater dwarf lemur weighs 420.1 g – 450 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the greater dwarf lemur endangered?
The greater dwarf lemur is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.
How long does the greater dwarf lemur live?
The greater dwarf lemur has a recorded lifespan of 13.4 years.
How long is the greater dwarf lemur pregnant?
The recorded gestation period is 70.8 days.
What kind of animal is the greater dwarf lemur?
The greater dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus major) belongs to the family Cheirogaleidae in the order Primates.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Greater dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus major). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/greater-dwarf-lemur
“Greater dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus major).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/greater-dwarf-lemur.
@misc{greater_dwarf_lemur_2026,
title = {Greater dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus major)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/greater-dwarf-lemur},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}