![1000 ways to die furry 1000 ways to die furry](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BIMZ6YO04Co/hqdefault.jpg)
Mouse lemurs could go a long way towards addressing that, he contends.Īlthough it’s difficult to establish a new model organism, scientists and funding agencies are taking notice of the mouse lemur. “What you don’t hear are the aspects of human biology that are not mimicked in the mouse”, from behaviours to disease and physical traits. As such, they can shed light on some questions about human biology and disease that mice simply can’t.“You hear a lot about successes in mice in elucidating human biology,” Krasnow says. Mouse lemurs are more closely related to humans, genetically speaking, yet still have many of the advantages of mice in terms of small size, rapid reproduction and relatively large litters. Krasnow thinks that the mouse lemur could become an important animal for genetics research, potentially rivalling the common laboratory mouse Mus musculus, at least for certain questions. The brainchild of Stanford biochemist Mark Krasnow, the project is studying a large population of grey and brown mouse lemurs - Microcebus murinus and Microcebus rufus, respectively - in the wild to work out how their genes link to differences in biology, health and behaviour. Onja, which translates as ocean wave, is one of about 500 animals studied so far in the mouse lemur project, a collaboration that aims to parse the genetics of this diminutive, prosimian primate. He checks her length and weight - she has gained 2 grams in less than a week - then he snaps a mugshot, eventually logging the information into an ever-expanding database of one of the planet’s smallest and most abundant primates.įinally, Pendleton nudges Onja back into a cage and covers it with a black bag to protect the nocturnal creature’s eyes while he carries her out into the bright hallway and back to the rainforest. He gets her to place her hands on an iPhone modified to measure her heart’s electrical activity. “Good,” says Pendleton, a research assistant who is working here in the rainforest at Centre ValBio, a research station at Ranomafana National Park in Madagascar.īathed in dim red light, Pendleton, who has come here from Stanford University in California, puts Onja through her paces. It records a force of 1 kilogram, impressive for a creature weighing only 41 grams.
![1000 ways to die furry 1000 ways to die furry](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/1000waystodie/images/1/1f/De-faced.png)
Finally, the animal gets her fingers around the bar and gives it a tug. “Come on, you can do better,” coos Zeph Pendleton, who is gently supporting the mouse lemur as she tries to get a firm hold. Onja is struggling tonight - her hands keep slipping off a miniature grip bar used to measure her strength.
![1000 ways to die furry 1000 ways to die furry](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KTi-TI7uwbo/hqdefault.jpg)
A mouse lemur shows its strength at a field lab in Madagascar before returning to the wild.