Bush babies get their common name from their alarm call, which sounds like a baby lost in the bushes.
Allen's bush babies communicate through 3 categories of sound--social, aggression, and defense. Social communication tends to be in the form of clicking noises from young to mother, sounding something like "tsic." A maternal call to the group sounds something like a soft croak. More powerful noises are for large groups to assemble. If an alarm call is heard, it can cause G. alleni to gather and mob a predator such as a cat. The aggressive call sounds like "quee, quee, quee."
There is also olfactory communication through urine which marks the territory of G. alleni. This urine territory marking was found to increase by about four times when the territory overlapped with another galago. Galago alleni is very territorial and aggression is frequently seen between males. The aggressive behavior is communicated through an upright posture, on the hind legs, and a vocal hissing sound. Courtship is communicated by mutual grooming and chasing.
Galago alleni has the ability to make many facial expressions, which can communicate a great deal. Facial expressions can be defensive, threatening, or protective, and are also associated with maternal clicks.
Galagos use tactile communication. Upon first encounter with a conspecific, they may sniff each other nose to nose. Then they will touch nose to face. Social grooming is their most important form of touch, and this helps them bond with one another.
Galago alleni has an exceptionally well-developed sense of vision (though lacking color vision) at night. They also have acute hearing, sense of smell, and use tactile cues to sense their environment.
Communication Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Other Communication Modes: scent marks
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Galago alleni is on the IUCN Red List as a lower risk threatened species, and is on the CITES Appendix II list. The greatest threat to Allen's bush babies is human impact on their habitat. Expanding human populations, and a civil war in Nigeria, have drastically decreased the extent of available habitat. Because G. alleni so strongly prefers primary forests to secondary forests this destruction of their habitat is a major concern for this species.
Even though human hunting does not appear to be a significant problem for the species, laws protect G. alleni from being hunted or captured without authorization. A reserve also exists in Cameroon where G. alleni has been reported, but many more reserves are needed.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: appendix ii
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
There do not seem to be any negative impacts of G. alleni on humans.
There is no significant demand for G. alleni, and it is not routinely hunted or captured. It is also rare that Allen's bush babies are exported for the pet trade or research.
G. alleni is an important predator of insects and possibly disperses the seeds of the fruits that they eat.
Allen's bush babies are primarily frugivores, especially eating fallen fruit. Fruit makes up an estimated three quarters (75%) of their diet. They also eat insects and occasionally small mammals, which may function as protein supplements.
Animal Foods: mammals; amphibians; eggs; insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods
Plant Foods: fruit
Primary Diet: herbivore (Frugivore )
Galago alleni lives in the rainforest of west-central Africa. It has been found nearly as far north as southern Nigeria, west to the delta of the Niger river, as far east as the southwestern corner of the Central African Republic, and south to southern Congo.
Biogeographic Regions: ethiopian (Native )
Galago alleni is most frequently found in the understory of mature primary wet forests. This species is rarely present in secondary growth forests.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; rainforest
In captivity G. alleni has been found to live about 12 years. This species has been known to live 8 years in the wild.
Range lifespan
Status: wild: 8 (high) years.
Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 12 (high) years.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 12.0 years.
Galago alleni has thick fur that can range from grey to brown in color with a rust tint on the limbs. The ventral fur tends to be lighter ranging from grey to a yellowed white. This species has distinct dark patches of fur around its eyes. The tail is long and bushy. Head and body length ranges from 155 to 240 mm and mass from 200 to 445 grams.
Like other members of the genus, G. alleni has unusually large eyes, which help to adapt this species to a nocturnal life style. These large eyes have a reflective retina, the tapetum, which facilitates light detection. Interestingly, these animals are color-blind, with only rods in the retina and no true macula.
Like many of their relatives, Allen's bush babies have flexible, naked ears that can moved backward, and be bent down to the base. The nose has a specialized leather-like covering with slits. Galago alleni has the characteristic toothcomb common in galagos, made up of the four incisors and two canines. They are known for their strong hindlimbs and leaping ability.
Range mass: 200 to 445 g.
Range length: 155 to 240 mm.
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
When feeling threatened, G. alleni has the ability to move more quickly by running on its hind legs. When it spots a predator it quickly jumps great distances from branch to branch. Galago alleni uses alarm calls to alert conspecifics of the danger.
Little is known about their predators, although arboreal and volant predators, such as cats and owls, are likely to be their main threats. Humans pose the greatest known threat through habitat destruction.
Known Predators:
Males seek to control home ranges that overlap those of several females. Intense competition between males for access to female home ranges is observed. Male dominance seems to be correlated with body mass, with larger males being the most dominant.
Mating System: polygynous
Females have one baby at a time. Births occur year round in some parts of the range and in seasonal peaks in other parts of the range. In Gabon, where births occur year-round, there is an increase of births from January to April. Peaks in births occur during times of the year when fruits and insects are most abundant. Gestation is unusually long (around 133 days). Birth weights are low (5 to 10 grams) when compared to other animals of the same size. The female separates herself from the group for two weeks when giving birth. Weaning occurs at about 6 weeks of age. Young Allen's bush babies become sexually mature at around 8 to 10 months of age.
Breeding interval: Females typically have one pregnancy per year.
Breeding season: Breeding occurs seasonally and year-round in different parts of the range.
Average number of offspring: 1.
Average gestation period: 133 days.
Average weaning age: 6 weeks.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 8 to 10 months.
Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 8 to 10 months.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization ; viviparous
Average birth mass: 24 g.
Average gestation period: 133 days.
Average number of offspring: 1.3.
Galago alleni build nests for their young and sometimes share the care of young with other females with infants. Females carry their young in their mouths. When they leave the nest to forage at night, they carry their dependent offspring to a hiding place. The female leaves her young in hiding while she searches for food. Females nurse their young for about six weeks.
The role of males in parental care appears to be indirect. Because males aggressively maintain their ranges, which overlap those of several females, it can be argued that they help to defend the young from invading males.
Parental Investment: altricial ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Male, Female); pre-independence (Protecting: Male, Female)
Bioko Allen's bushbaby (Sciurocheirus alleni), also known as the Bioko squirrel galago, is a species of primate in the galago family found in Cameroon, Nigeria, and the island of Bioko, Equatorial Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests.[2] The bushbaby is currently near-threatened, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.[2]
Originally described as Galago alleni by Waterhouse (1838), the species was placed in a separate genus, Sciurocheirus by Gray in 1863.[3] The species was split into three taxa, alleni, cameronensis, and gabonensis by Eisentraut (1973) and Groves (1989)[4] which were then later elevated to species status by Groves (2001) as S. alleni, S. cameronensis, and S. gabonensis and followed by Groves (2005) and Nekaris (2013).[1][3]
Bioko Allen's bushbaby has a head-body length of 20–28 cm (7.9–11.0 in) with a 23–30 cm (9.1–11.8 in) tail and weighs 300–410 g (11–14 oz).[3]
Bioko Allen's bushbaby (Sciurocheirus alleni), also known as the Bioko squirrel galago, is a species of primate in the galago family found in Cameroon, Nigeria, and the island of Bioko, Equatorial Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. The bushbaby is currently near-threatened, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
