Editing Senegal bushbaby

{{Short description|Species of primate}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Senegal bushbaby<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Groves|pages=126|id=12100144|heading=''Galago senegalensis''}}</ref>
| image = Galago senegalensis.jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=de Jong, Y.A. |author2=Butynski, T.M. |author3=Svensson, M. |author4=Perkin, A. |date=2019 |title=''Galago senegalensis'' |volume=2019 |page=e.T8789A17963505 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T8789A17963505.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| genus = Galago
| species = senegalensis
| authority = [[Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire|É. Geoffroy]], 1796
| range_map = Distribution G. senegalensis.svg
| range_map_caption = <div style="padding-left:3px; text-align:left;">{{legend|#a6d67f|border=1px solid #978e73|Distribution of the Senegal Bushbaby}}{{legend|#e2a67f|border=1px solid #978e73|Possible range or accidental records}}</div>
}}

The '''Senegal bushbaby''' ('''''Galago senegalensis'''''), also known as the '''Senegal galago''', the '''lesser galago''' or the '''lesser bush baby''', is a small, nocturnal [[primate]], a member of the [[galago]] [[family (biology)|family]] [[Galagidae]].

The name "bush baby" may come either from the animals' cries or from their appearance. They are agile leapers, and run swiftly along branches. They live in Africa south of the Sahara and nearby islands including Zanzibar. They tend to live in dry woodland regions and savannah regions. They are small primates (130&nbsp;mm and 95 - 300 grams) with woolly thick fur that ranges from silvery grey to dark brown. They have large eyes, giving them good night [[eye|vision]]; strong hind limbs; and long tails, which help them balance. Their ears are made up of four segments that can bend back individually, to aid their hearing when hunting insects at night. Their omnivorous diet is a mixture of other small animals, including birds and insects, fruit, seeds, flowers, eggs, nuts, and tree gums.

[[File:Senegal Galago 2010.ogv|thumb|left|A Senegal bushbaby, at an aquarium in [[Tokyo]], looks around carefully.]]
Bushbabies reproduce twice a year, at the beginning of the rains (November) and the end (February). They are polygynous, and the females raise their young in nests made from leaves. They have 1 - 2 babies per litter, with gestation period being 110 – 120 days. Bush babies are born with half-closed eyes, unable to move about independently. After a few days, the mother carries the infant in her mouth, and leaves it on convenient branches while feeding.

Adult females maintain territories, but share them with their offspring. Males leave their mothers' territories after puberty, but females remain, forming social groups consisting of closely related females and their immature young. Adult males maintain separate territories, which overlap with those of the female social groups; generally, one adult male mates with all the females in an area. Males who have not established such territories sometimes form small bachelor groups.

Bush babies communicate both by calling to each other and by [[Urine marking|marking their paths with their urine]]. At the end of the night, group members use a special rallying call and gather to sleep in a nest made of leaves, in a group of branches, or in a hole in a tree.

==Predation by chimpanzees==
A 2007 study of the [[Western chimpanzee]] in Täi forest, [[Ivory Coast]], revealed that local females, young males, young females and infants chimps hunt the Senegal bushbaby using fashioned spears.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Pruetz |first1=J. D. |last2=Bertolani |first2=P. |date=2007 |title=Savanna Chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes verus, Hunt with Tools |journal=Current Biology |volume=17 |issue=5 |pages=412–417 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2006.12.042 |issn=0960-9822|doi-access=free |pmid=17320393 }}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070224105220/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C253810%2C00.html FOXNews.com - Killer Chimps Make Spears, Hunt Bushbabies - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> When a bushbaby roost was found, the chimps broke a branch from a nearby tree and sharpened the end using their teeth. They would then rapidly and repeatedly stab into the roost. After successly killing the bushbaby they reached into or smashed the roost, retrieved the body of the bushbaby and ate it. This method was observed to be successful only once in five attempts for a young female.<ref name=":1" />

==Subspecies==
There are four subspecies of the Senegal bushbaby:
* ''Galago senegalensis senegalensis''
* ''Galago senegalensis braccatus''
* ''Galago senegalensis sotikae''
* ''Galago senegalensis dunni''

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

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[[Category:Galagos|Senegal bushbaby]]
[[Category:Mammals of West Africa]]
[[Category:Mammals of Cameroon]]
[[Category:Mammals of the Central African Republic]]
[[Category:Mammals of Chad]]
[[Category:Mammals of the Democratic Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:Mammals of Eritrea]]
[[Category:Mammals of Ethiopia]]
[[Category:Mammals of Kenya]]
[[Category:Mammals of Rwanda]]
[[Category:Mammals of Somalia]]
[[Category:Mammals of South Sudan]]
[[Category:Mammals of Sudan]]
[[Category:Mammals of Tanzania]]
[[Category:Mammals of Uganda]]
[[Category:Fauna of the Afrotropical realm]]
[[Category:Mammals described in 1796|Senegal bushbaby]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire]]