SPECIES - Galagoides orinus (Lawrence and Washburn, 1936)
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  • Description
  • Taxonomy
  • Calls
  • Distribution
  • Habitat
  • Conservation
  • References
orinus
Excerpt from Groves (2001):


“Dark, reddish-toned; face-strip creamy yellow, not white; eye-rings dark brown; ears not deeply pigmented. Relativey short tail, very short hindfoot. Tail short-haired, of uniform thickness, reddish at base, darker at tip.”

Advertisement call categorized as a rolling call but considered distinct enough to group it separate from other rolling callers (i.e. G. zanzibaricus and G. rondoensis) (Grubb et al. 2003).

Body measurements:

  • Head and body: 132 (125-138) mm, n = 4
  • Tail: 180 (169-199) mm, n = 4
  • Weight: 89.6 (74-98) g, n = 3

Common name:
Mountain Dwarf Galago

Type locality: Bagilo, Morogoro District, Morogoro Region, Tanzania

Grouped as a subspecies to Galago demidovii (Lawerence and Washburn 1936) this taxon was first recognized as a separate species through their unique advertisement call (Bearder et al. 1995, Honess 1996). Grubb et al. (2003) listed this taxon in the genus Galagoides, while Groves (2005) retained the genus Galago.

There are, at least, two populations of dwarf galago populations in isolated mountain top forests that display similar vocal repertoires to G. orinus (S. Bearder, pers. comm.).These are G. sp. nov. 3 at Rungwe Mountains, Tanzania, (the vocal repertoire of G. sp. nov. 3 population at Madehani, Ukinga Mountains, Tanzania, has not been recorded enough for analysis) and the Mughese Dwarf Galago at the Mughese Forest, Misuku Hills, Malawi. Comparative advertising call (rolling call) of the Mughese Dwarf Galago is included under the Call tab.


Mountain populations of Galagoides spp. are found at different localities around Tanzania, Kenya and Malawi. Some of these populations are of undecided taxonomic status, i.e. Taita Mountain Dwarf Galago, Ukinga Galago (G. sp. nov. 3) and Misuku Hills Dwarf Galago, but has been grouped, on occasion, as possible subspecies to G. orinus. Below are the advertising calls from the two latter as a compliment for your own comparison.


Scaling Call

Scaling Call (Ukinga Galago)

Scaling Call (Misuku Hills Dwarf Galago)

Yaps and Chatter

Yaps and Descending Yap and Chatter

Yaps and Grunts


All calls are used by kind permission of the NPRG Sound Library, Oxford Brookes University, U.K.

Excerpt from Butynski et al. (2008):


“This species is present is present in many of the Eastern Arc Mountains of Kenya and Tanzania. It has been recorded from the West and East Usumbara Mountains, the Uluguru Mountains, the Udzungwa Mountains, and Rubehos (all Tanzania). Similar forms have been recorded from the Taita Hills, Kenya (Perkin et al. 2002), and from Rungwe Mountain in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania (A. Perkin and S. Bearder pers. comm.). Appears to occur at elevations from 1,200 to 2,000 m. Sympatric with G. zanzibaricus and Otolemur garnettii.”

Map:  Pink areas illustrate the current estimated distribution of G. orinus. Our suggested survey site is located at the central area of distribution and type locality, Mkungwe Forest Reserve, marked with a blue placemarker.


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Distribution polygon data compiled by Butynski at al. (2008). Shapefile downloaded from www.iucnredlist.org.
Excerpt from Butynski et al. (2008):

“It is found in the mid- to high canopy of submontane and montane tropical forest.”
IUCN Category: Near Threatened (ver 3.1)

Listed on Appendix II of CITES

It is present in a number of protected areas throughout the range, including the Udzungwa Mountains National Park, the Udzungwa Scarp Forest Reserve, both in Tanzania, and Taiti Hills Forest Reserve, Kenya. The main threat to this species is habitat loss through deforestation for timber, and conversion to agricultural land (Butynski et al. 2008).

Bearder, S. K., Honess, P. E. & Ambrose, L. in Creatures of the dark : the nocturnal prosimians   eds L. Alterman, Gerald A. Doyle, & M. Kay Izard)  331-352 (Plenum Press, 1995).

Butynski, T. M., Ehardt, C. L. & Struhsaker, T. T. Notes on two dwarf galagos (Galagoides udzungwensis and Galagoides orinus) in the Udzungwa mountains, Tanzania. Primate Conservation 18, 69-75 (1998).

Butynski, T.M., Perkin, A., Bearder, S. & Ehardt, C. 2008. Galagoides orinus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 01 May 2012.

Groves, C. P. Primate taxonomy.  (Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001).

Grubb, P. et al. Assessment of the diversity of African primates. International Journal of Primatology 24, 1301-1357 (2003).

Honess, P. E. Speciation among galagos (Primates, Galagidae) in Tanzanian forests, Oxford Brookes University, (1996).

Lawrence, B. & Washburn, S. L. A new eastern race of Galago demidovii. Occ. Pap.Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 8, 255-266 (1936).

Perkin, A. W., Agwanda, B., Bearder S. K.,  Butynski, T. M. Bytebier, B.  2002.  The Taita Mountain Dwarf Galago Galagoides Sp: A new Primate for Kenya. Journal of East African Natural History. 91: 1-13.

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