Wildlife of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone has 15 identified species of primates that include bushbaby, monkeys and a great ape, the common chimpanzee which is Sierra Leone's largest primate. Chimpanzees are found across the country with the 2010 chimpanzee census estimated a wild population in excess of 5500 more than double the number previously thought to live in the country. This is the second largest population of the endangered subspecies of western chimpanzee, after Guinea,
with the largest density in the Loma area, 2.69 individuals per km2, and the Outamba, with 1.21 individuals per km2.
Biretia
The smallest of the species, "B. fayumensis", had an estimated weight of 273 g, while the largest, "B. megalopsis", had a weight of about 376g. Adaptations of the skull of "B. megalopsis" are easily comparable to the modern tarsiers, a small, modern Asian primate with a nocturnal insectivorous lifestyle. We can infer the possibility of a nocturnal lifestyle for "B. megalopsis"' from the animal's molar roots, which are truncated to accommodate for large eye sockets typical of a nocturnal primate. The large eye structure and similarity to the modern tarsiers also suggests that it has lost its tapetum lucidum. Thus, "B. megalopsis" demonstrates itself as being the oldest known nocturnal primate.