Lemur

Lemur facts and information:

Scientific Name: Lemur Catta
Type: Mammal
Diet: Omnivore
Average lifespan in the wild: Up to 18 years
Size: Head and body, 17.75 in (45 cm); Tail, 21.75 in (55 cm)
Weight: 5 to 7.5 lbs (2.3 to 3.4 kg)|
Top Speed: 20km/h (12mph)
Group name: Troop
Protection status: Endangered

What does a lemur look like?

Lemurs are best known for their large, round reflective eyes and their wailing screams. Lemurs also have furry, pointed ears and long tails, with lemurs often being compared to both monkeys and squirrels. As a presimian, a primate suborder that means "pre-monkey," the lemur has a black, doglike snout. Their sense of smell is acute and specially designed eyes facilitate night vision. Lemurs have long bodies, long limbs and bushy tails, and come in a variety of colors — brown, black, red and even white. They live mainly in trees, running and leaping from branch to branch.

Lemur video.

Where do lemurs live?

Lemurs are primates found only on the African island of Madagascar and some tiny neighboring islands. Because of its geographic isolation, Madagascar is home to many amazing animals found nowhere else on Earth. Lemurs may have floated there eons ago on "rafts" of vegetation and evolved in isolation over countless centuries.

What does a lemur eat?

Lemurs use their hands and feet to move nimbly through the trees, but cannot grip with their tails as some of their primate cousins do. Ring-tailed lemurs also spend a lot of time on the ground, which is unusual among lemur species. They forage for fruit, which makes up the greater part of their diet, but also eat leaves, flowers, tree bark, and sap. The lemur will eat most small things from berries, nuts and leaves to insects and spiders and therefore the lemur has an omnivorous diet. Lemurs get most of their food from the surrounding trees but lemurs will occasionally forage for grub on the forest floor if they have no luck in the branches.

What sound does a lemur make?

Lemurs communicate with each other through a series of calls. Some lemurs, such as the indri, produce loud wailing calls to mark their territory while the sifaka defines its home range with "shi-fak" calls that sound like hiccups. Lemurs are endangered due to deforestation.

How do lemurs use their scent?

Ring-tailed lemurs have powerful scent glands and use their unique odor as a communication tool and even as a kind of weapon. Lemurs mark their territory by scent, serving notice of their presence to all who can smell. During mating season, male lemurs battle for dominance by trying to outstink each other. They cover their long tails with smelly secretions and wave them in the air to determine which animal is more powerful.

Did you know this about lemurs?

All 90-some species of lemur are native only to the island of Madagascar off the coast of Africa.
A third of the lemur population has gone extinct since humans settled Madagascar.
In lemur society, the females are the dominant members of the social hierarchy. This social structure is seldom seen among mammals.
Native to the African island of Madagascar, ring-tailed lemurs are closely protected endangered animals.
Ring-tailed lemurs are unmistakable because of their long, vividly striped, black-and-white tail. They are familiar residents of many zoos.