Lemur of mouse lemurs, the gray mouse lemur ("M. murinus"), golden-brown mouse lemur ("M. ravelobensis"), and Goodman's mouse lemur ("M. lehilahytsara") were considered the same species until recently, when genetic tests identified them as cryptic species. The lemur dentition is heterodont (having multiple tooth morphologies) and derives from an ancestral primate permanent dentition of . Indriids, sportive lemurs, the aye-aye, and the extinct sloth lemurs, monkey lemurs, and koala lemurs have reduced dentitions, having lost incisors, canines, or premolars. The ancestral deciduous dentition is , but young indriids, aye-ayes, koala lemurs, sloth lemurs, and probably monkey lemurs have fewer deciduous teeth.
Deciduous repairing leaves and keeping them functional may be more costly than just losing and regrowing them. Removing leaves also reduces cavitation which can damage xylem vessels in plants. This then allows deciduous plants to have xylem vessels with larger diameters and therefore a greater rate of transpiration (and hence CO uptake as this occurs when stomata are open) during the summer growth period. The deciduous characteristic has developed repeatedly among woody plants. Trees include maple, many oaks and nothofagus, elm, aspen, and birch, among others, as well as a number of coniferous genera, such as larch and "Metasequoia". Deciduous shrubs