Eastern voalavo

It was first recorded in 2002, The sequences of the cytochrome b gene differ by about 10% in these two species. The specific name, antsahabensis, derives from the name of the village of Antsahabe, which is near the place where the holotype was found. The common name "Eastern Voalavo" has been used for this species. ==Description==

Species of Voalavo are small rodents with a delicate skull and without a tuft at the tip of the tail (as present in the closely related genus Eliurus). The eastern voalavo is similar to the northern voalavo and differs only in subtle characters. In both species, the final of the tail are covered with white hairs. In three specimens of eastern voalavo, head and body length ranges from , tail length is , hindfoot length , ear length , and body mass . The back end of the incisive foramina (openings in the front part of the palate), which is located in front of the first molars, is rounded in eastern voalavo, but angular in northern voalavo. The sutures of the maxillary and palatine bones (the line where the two bones, part of the skull, join) are straight and parallel to each other, the toothrows, and the midline of the skull in eastern voalavo. Northern voalavo, in contrast, are more curved. Statistical analysis of measurements of the skull and teeth clearly separates the two species of Voalavo. ==Distribution and ecology==

It is only known from the forests at Anjozorobe, on the eastern margin of Madagascar's Central Highlands. Among the specimens found in 2002, two were captured at altitude on a Uapaca densifolia branch, about over the ground, in moist montane forest, and a third was caught on the ground at altitude. This last specimen, a male, had its testicles located in the scrotum, and therefore was reproductively mature, even though its skull bones were not completely fused, indicating it was not yet osteologically mature. ==Conservation status==

It is listed as "Endangered" on the IUCN Red List because of its small, vulnerable range; the Anjozorobe forest is threatened by the practice of slash-and-burn agriculture (tavy). However, its habitat has been designated as a protected area, the Couloir Forestier d'Anjozorobe-Angavo. ==References==