CreatureData

Pygmy mouse lemur

Microcebus myoxinus Peters, 1852

VUVulnerableprimates

The pygmy mouse lemur (Microcebus myoxinus) is a species in the family Cheirogaleidae, order Primates. Recorded adults weigh 30 g to 64.8 g and live up to 15.5 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.

Pygmy mouse lemur (Microcebus myoxinus)
Photo: Bikeadventure at German Wikipedia · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the pygmy mouse lemur

Weight
30 g – 64.8 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
15.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
18.2 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
60.2 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
2.21src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
7.98 months – 9.83 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
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 pygmy mouse lemur live?

Not recorded

What is the pygmy mouse lemur?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The pygmy mouse lemur (Microcebus myoxinus), also known as Peters' mouse lemur or dormouse lemur, is a primate weighing only 43–55 g (1.5–1.9 oz); it is the second smallest of the mouse lemurs. Its dorsal side is a rufous-brown colour, and creamy-white ventrally. It lives in dry deciduous forests of western Madagascar. It has been captured in the Tsingy de Bemaraha Nature Reserve, the Andramasy forests north of Belo sur Tsiribihina, and the border of heavily degraded deciduous forest and savanna at Aboalimena. It has also been found in other habitats, in mangroves in two localities.

Accounts and descriptions of this species are frequently confounded with those of Microcebus berthae, the smallest primate in the world. This is because specimens of M. berthae captured in Kirindy Forest, 60 km north of Morondava, were erroneously named M. myoxinus. Apparently, the rufous color of M. berthae (not described at the time) matched the description by Peter as M. myoxinus. Most articles on the web report information on M. myoxinus that correspond to studies made in Kirindy Forest on M. berthae.

The behavior and ecology of Microcebus myoxinus remains to be studied in the wild.

The pygmy mouse lemur measures around 12–13 cm (4.7–5.1 in) (head-body length).

From the Wikipedia article “Pygmy mouse lemur” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pygmy_mouse_lemur&oldid=1371010001), 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 pygmy mouse lemur endangered?

The pygmy mouse lemur is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. 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 pygmy mouse lemur classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderPrimates
  5. familyCheirogaleidae
  6. genusMicrocebus
  7. SpeciesMicrocebus myoxinus Peters, 1852
Other names and names in other languages (23)
  • Peters mouse lemurEnglish
  • Peters’ mouse lemurEnglish
  • Peters’ mouse lemurEnglish
  • Peters' mouse lemurEnglish
  • Peters's mouse lemurEnglish
  • Western rufous mouse lemurEnglish
  • Western rufous mouse lemurEnglish
  • ليمور الفأر القزمArabic
  • ZwergmausmakiGerman
  • Zwerg-MausmakiGerman
  • Lémur Ratón de Madagascar OccidentalSpanish
  • Lémur ratón pigmeo (Lémur ratón de Peters)Spanish
  • KääpiöhiirimakiFinnish
  • Microcèbe pygméeFrench
  • Microcèbe pygmée (Microcèbe de Peters)French
  • Törpe egérmakiHungarian
  • Microcebo pigmeoItalian
  • Microcebo di PetersItalian
  • Microcebo pigmeo (Microcebo di Peters)Italian
  • ピグミーネズミキツネザルJapanese
  • Kleine DwergmuismakiDutch
  • mikrusek karłowatyPolish
  • Lêmure-rato-pigmeuPortuguese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the pygmy mouse lemur

Other species in the same genus Microcebus.

ComparePygmy mouse lemur vs Gray mouse lemurPygmy mouse lemur vs Madame Berthe's mouse lemurPygmy mouse lemur vs Brown mouse lemurPygmy mouse lemur vs Gerp's mouse lemur

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the pygmy mouse lemur?

An adult pygmy mouse lemur weighs 30 g – 64.8 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the pygmy mouse lemur endangered?

The pygmy mouse 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 pygmy mouse lemur live?

The pygmy mouse lemur has a recorded lifespan of 15.5 years.

How long is the pygmy mouse lemur pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 60.2 days.

What kind of animal is the pygmy mouse lemur?

The pygmy mouse lemur (Microcebus myoxinus) 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.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Pygmy mouse lemur (Microcebus myoxinus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/pygmy-mouse-lemur

MLA

“Pygmy mouse lemur (Microcebus myoxinus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/pygmy-mouse-lemur.

BibTeX
@misc{pygmy_mouse_lemur_2026,
  title = {Pygmy mouse lemur (Microcebus myoxinus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/pygmy-mouse-lemur},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}