World Wildlife Fund

German Scientists Name One Species after WWF Biologist
Two new lemur species have been discovered on the island nation of Madagascar and one of them has been named after Dr. Steve Goodman, a scientist with World Wildlife Fund and Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History.

Goodman's Mouse Lemur (Microcebus lehilahytsara) is barely bigger than a mouse, has a white stripe on its nose, maroon, orange and white fur, and short, rounded ears (lehilahytsara is the Malagasy word for good man). Scientists with the German Primate Center and the University of Göttingen and their Malagasy collaborators analyzed its genetic makeup and determined it was an entirely new species of mouse lemur.

The scientists named it after Goodman, coordinator of WWF's Ecology Training Program and Senior Field Biologist at The Field Museum in recognition of his almost two decades of field research and its contribution to understanding the diversity of Madagascar's unique and threatened fauna.

"It's a great privilege to have this species named after me, but it really honors all of the project members, scientists and researchers who work in the field with us over the years," Goodman said. "These discoveries underline how little we know about the fauna of Madagascar."

The second species, Mirza zaza, was named in honor of Madagascar's children, since zaza is the Malagasy word for child. It is nocturnal, weighing about 10 ounces and is the size of a gray squirrel.

Lemurs exist only on Madagascar and are considered the most endangered of all primates. The discovery of two new species shows the importance of conserving Madagascar's rapidly disappearing forests.