| Lemurs | |
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| Ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) carrying twins | |
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| Infraorder: | Lemuriformes Gray, 1821 |
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Lemurs areprimates andprosimians (notmonkeys). The word "lemur" comes from theLatin wordlemures, which means "ghosts". Lemur are divided into eightfamilies, with 15genera and about 100 livingspecies. However, lemurclassification is controversial: it depends on which species concept is used.Lemur is also agenus in one of the families.[1]
Lemurs are nativeonly to theisland ofMadagascar. From there a few species got to smaller islands nearby, for example theComoros. Madagascar, likeAfrica andIndia, was part of the ancient southern continent ofGondwana.[2]
Lemursweigh from 30g to the 10kg. Larger species have all becomeextinct sincehuman groups moved to Madagascar. Usually, the smaller lemurs are active at night (nocturnal), and the larger ones were active during the day (diurnal).
Lemurs areendangered species because people destroy theirhabitat and used to hunt them, and perhaps still do so.
Ring-tailed lemur, the most studied, are white and black with a ring tail[3] The larger species are about 1.5 meters tall and weigh about 2 to 3.5 kilograms. They move quietly, usually at night, sometimes letting out eerie wailing cries, which some people think is the reason why they got their names.
Lemurs mostly eat fruit, leaves, and other plant parts. They live in family groups of 5 to 42 members which is called a troop. Females aredominant and remain in the same troop for life. Males move between troops. The female'sgestation period lasts four to five months, and they usually have one or two babies. Lemur mothers nurse their babies until they are about four months old. Then they begin to feed the babies solid food such as fruit. Lemurs spend most of their time in the trees. Some are great leapers, flinging themselves from tree to tree.[4]
Lemurs communicate with a variety of hoots. They will also send messages withscents (smells). When a male lemur wants to scare another male away, he first rubs its tail on the smelly glands under its arms and then waves the tail in the other male's face. These are called "stink fights".
