Reproduction
Hand held twin Coquerel's dwarf lemurs. Click image for larger version.
Unlike most lemurs, a captive Coquerel's dwarf lemur female might cycle throughout the year. Hence breeding can occur at any time, and does not appear to be at all seasonal. During estrus, a female's genitalia becomes noticeably swollen and changes color. When a female nears estrus, a male might follow her closely, constantly sniffing to monitor her status. After breeding, a sperm plug often forms in the female's vagina, theoretically preventing her from breeding with another male. After a gestation of around 90 days, litters of one or two infants are born. Infants weigh 15-20 grams at birth. The infants leave the nest in independent exploratory jaunts when they are about three to four weeks old, but during their first few weeks of life, the mother might carry them in her mouth if she needs to move the young. When the young are old enough to get around on their own and are fully weaned, they will forage entirely separately from their mothers, although they still might share the same home range.
Unlike captive populations, wild populations of Coquerel's dwarf lemur in Madagascar appear to have a definite breeding season, during which time the testes of the males become enlarged significantly, and females begin to advertise the onset of estrus with loud piercing vocalizations. Mating occurs in October, and given the females' penchant for very vocal advertisement of their condition, and the males' huge testes size, breeding in this species is more than likely promiscuous with cycling females breeding with numerous males.