"lemurs in a natural environment. In addition to rehabilitation, Lemurs' Park has also successfully bred Coquerel's sifakas (""Propithecus coquereli"") since 2007. Because many of these lemurs have become endangered as a result of deforestation in Madagascar, Lemurs' Park participates in a reforestation program supported by Colas Madagascar and Total Madagascar. Between December 2008 and May 2013, approximately 37,163 students and 1,270 teachers from the public primary schools around Antananarivo have helped plant 170 native trees and participated in environmental education at Lemurs' Park. For many of the children, this program has allowed them to see free-ranging lemurs for the first"
"Lemur Lemurs ( ) are a clade of strepsirrhine primates endemic to the island of Madagascar. The word ""lemur"" derives from the word ""lemures"" (ghosts or spirits) from Roman mythology and was first used to describe a slender loris due to its nocturnal habits and slow pace, but was later applied to the primates on Madagascar. As with other strepsirrhine primates, such as lorises, pottos, and galagos (bush babies), lemurs share resemblance with basal primates. In this regard, lemurs are often confused with ancestral primates, when in actuality, lemurs did not give rise to monkeys and apes, but evolved independently."
"lemurs have diversified to fill many niches normally filled by other types of mammals. They include the smallest primates in the world, and once included some of the largest. Since the arrival of humans approximately 2,000 years ago, lemurs are now restricted to 10% of the island, or approximately , with many facing extinction. Lemurs are primates belonging to the suborder Strepsirrhini. Like other strepsirrhine primates, such as lorises, pottos, and galagos, they share ancestral traits with early primates. In this regard, lemurs are popularly confused with ancestral primates; however, lemurs did not give rise to monkeys and apes, but"
"(DLC). Lemurs are not known in the fossil record on Madagascar until the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs. Consequently, little is known about the evolution of ruffed lemurs, let alone the entire lemur clade, which comprises the endemic primate population of the island. Although there is still much debate about the origins of lemurs on Madagascar, it is generally accepted that a single rafting event, similar to the one that brought New World monkeys to South America, occurred around 50–80 million years ago and allowed ancestral lemurs to cross the Mozambique Channel and colonize the island, which had already split from"
"both day and night), and strict breeding seasons. Extreme resource limitations and seasonal breeding are also thought to have given rise to three other relatively common lemur traits: female social dominance, sexual monomorphism, and male–male competition for mates involving low levels of agonism, such as sperm competition. Before the arrival of humans roughly 1500 to 2000 years ago, lemurs were found all across the island. However, early settlers quickly converted the forests to rice paddies and grassland through slash-and-burn agriculture (known locally as ""tavy""), restricting lemurs to approximately 10% of the island's area, ~60,000 km (23,000 sq mi). Today, the"
"for a few populations. However, learning opportunities are dwindling as habitat destruction and other factors threaten the existence of lemur populations across the island. Lemurs are mentioned in sailors' voyage logs as far back as 1608 and in 1658 that at least seven lemur species were described in detail by the French merchant, Étienne de Flacourt, who may also have been the only westerner to see and chronicle the existence of a giant (now extinct) lemur, which he called the ""tretretretre"". Around 1703 merchants and sailors began bringing lemurs back to Europe, at which time James Petiver, an apothecary in"
"Lemuridae Lemuridae is a family of strepsirrhine primates native to Madagascar, and the Comoros Islands. They are represented by the Lemuriformes in Madagascar with one of the highest concentration of the lemurs. One of five families commonly known as lemurs. These animals were once thought to be the evolutionary predecessors of monkeys and apes, but this is no longer considered correct. Lemurids are medium-sized arboreal primates, ranging from 32 to 56 cm in length, excluding the tail, and weighing from 0.7 to 5 kg. They have long, bushy tails and soft, woolly fur of varying coloration. The hindlegs are slightly"
"lemur species on the island to have evolved to live in and eat the papyrus reeds bordering the lake. In 2013, the Sihanaka were estimated to number around 200,000. Families are hierarchical, with parents exercising authoritarian control over their children. Sihanaka men and women have significant autonomy in deciding when to marry and whether to divorce. Marriages are disallowed between siblings, cousins, and direct ascendents. To reinforce this forbidden physical intimacy, Sihanaka have historically used a formal term of address when speaking to these particular family members. Mothers are traditionally subject to several fady, such as not being allowed to"
"are thought to have resulted in three other relatively common lemur traits: female dominance, sexual monomorphism (lack of size differences between the sexes), and male–male competition for mates involving low levels of agonism (conflict), such as sperm competition. The arrival of humans on the island 1,500 to 2,000 years ago has taken a significant toll, not only on the size of lemur populations, but also on their diversity. Due to habitat destruction and hunting, at least 17 species and 8 genera have gone extinct and the populations of all species have decreased. A couple of species once thought to have"
"(PBS) children's television series from 1999 to 2001, helped to popularize sifakas by featuring a live Coquerel's sifaka from the Duke Lemur Center as well as a puppet. A twenty-episode series called ""Lemur Kingdom"" (in the United States) or ""Lemur Street"" (in the United Kingdom and Canada) aired in 2008 on Animal Planet. It combined the typical animal documentary with dramatic narration to tell the story of two groups of ring-tailed lemurs at Berenty Private Reserve. Lemur Lemurs ( ) are a clade of strepsirrhine primates endemic to the island of Madagascar. The word ""lemur"" derives from the word ""lemures"""
"Lemurs are endemic to Madagascar, although much of their diversity and habitat has been lost due to recent human activity. As with nearly all primates, strepsirrhines typically reside in tropical rainforests. These habitats allow strepsirrhines and other primates to evolve diverse communities of sympatric species. In the eastern rainforests of Madagascar, as many as 11 or 12 species share the same forests, and prior to human arrival, some forests had nearly double that diversity. Several species of lemur are found in drier, seasonal forests, including the spiny forest on the southern tip of the island, although the lemur communities in"
"diverse forms of locomotion, varying levels of social complexity, and unique adaptations to the local climate. They went on to fill many niches normally occupied by monkeys, squirrels, woodpeckers, and large grazing ungulates. In addition to the incredible diversity between lemur families, there has also been great diversification among closely related lemurs. The arrival of humans on the island 1,500 to 2,000 years ago has taken a significant toll, not only on the size of lemur populations, but also on their diversity. Due to habitat destruction and hunting, at least 17 species and 8 genera have gone extinct and many"
"trade. As of early 2017, the population in the wild is believed to have crashed as low as 2,000 individuals due to habitat loss, poaching and hunting, making them far more critically endangered. Although the term ""lemur"" was first intended for slender lorises, it was soon limited to the endemic Malagasy primates, which have been known as ""lemurs"" ever since. The name derives from the Latin term ""lemures"", which refers to specters or ghosts that were exorcised during the Lemuria festival of ancient Rome. According to Carl Linnaeus's own explanation, the name was selected because of the nocturnal activity and"
"group sent an expedition to the Comoros in 1992 to bring some of the bats to Britain to establish a breeding population. A hybrid of the common brown lemur (""Eulemur fulvus"") originally from Madagascar, was introduced by humans prior to European colonization and is found on Mayotte. The mongoose lemur (""Eulemur mongoz""), also introduced from Madagascar by humans, can be found on the islands of Mohéli and Anjouan. 22 species of bird are unique to the archipelago and 17 of these are restricted to the Union of the Comoros. These include the Karthala scops-owl, Anjouan scops-owl and Humblot's flycatcher. Partly"
"to have diverged due to habitat fragmentation when humans arrived on the island roughly 2,000 years ago. Only recently has molecular research shown a more distant split in these genera. Most surprising were the mouse lemurs, a group which is now thought to contain cryptic species, meaning they are indistinguishable from each other based solely on appearance. In contrast, true lemurs are easier to distinguish and exhibit sexual dichromatism. Studies in karyology, molecular genetics, and biogeographic patterns have also assisted in understanding their phylogeny and diversification. Although the divergence estimates for these two genera are imprecise, they overlap with a"
"donation of the proceeds from the London premier of ""Fierce Creatures"". Cleese is quoted as saying, ""I adore lemurs. They're extremely gentle, well-mannered, pretty and yet great fun ... I should have married one."" The Bemaraha woolly lemur (""Avahi cleesei""), also known as Cleese's woolly lemur, is native to western Madagascar. The scientist who discovered the species named it after Cleese, mainly because of Cleese's fondness for lemurs and his efforts at protecting and preserving them. The species was first discovered in 1990 by a team of scientists from Zurich University led by Urs Thalmann, but was not formally described"
"that may have originated in Asia. They were once thought to have evolved from adapids, a more specialized and younger branch of adapiform primarily from Europe. Lemurs rafted from Africa to Madagascar between 47 and 54 mya, whereas the lorises split from the African galagos around 40 mya and later colonized Asia. The lemuriforms, and particularly the lemurs of Madagascar, are often portrayed inappropriately as ""living fossils"" or as examples of ""basal"", or ""inferior"" primates. These views have historically hindered the understanding of mammalian evolution and the evolution of strepsirrhine traits, such as their reliance on smell (olfaction), characteristics of"
"would prove difficult for a large, warm-blooded (homeothermic) mammal, but today many small, nocturnal species of lemur exhibit heterothermy, which allows them to lower their metabolism and become dormant while living off fat reserves. Such a trait in a small, nocturnal lemur ancestor would have facilitated the ocean voyage and could have been passed on to its descendants. However, this trait has not been observed in the closely related lorisoids studied to date, and could have evolved on Madagascar in response to the island's harsh environmental conditions. Because only five terrestrial orders of mammals have made it to the island,"
"Tingo, the main character from ""Sesame English"", is a ring tailed lemur. Ring-tailed lemur The ring-tailed lemur (""Lemur catta"") is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families, and is the only member of the Lemur genus. Like all lemurs it is endemic to the island of Madagascar. Known locally in Malagasy as ' (, spelled ' in French) or """", it inhabits gallery forests to spiny scrub in the southern regions of the island. It is omnivorous and the most"
"Mongoose lemur The mongoose lemur (""Eulemur mongoz"") is a small primate in the family Lemuridae, native to Madagascar and the Comoros Islands. These arboreal animals have pointed faces, long bushy tails, dark brown upper parts, pale bellies and a beard, which is reddish in males and white in females. They live in family groups and feed primarily on fruits, but also eat leaves, flowers and nectar, with nectar from the kapok tree making up a large part of their diet during the dry season. They have declined sharply in numbers because of habitat destruction and hunting, and the International Union"
"infant lemurs to fall, whereupon the mother quickly comes to the infant's assistance. Adult lemurs typically don't fall although they may occasionally lose their grip if the bark of the tree shears off from beneath their fingers. Lemurs may carry food while they travel in their hands, though they prefer to place the objects in their mouth. Milne-Edwards' sifaka is endemic to the island of Madagascar off the southeastern coast of Africa. Milne-Edwards' sifaka is found in primary and secondary rainforests on the southeastern part of the island at elevations between . Milne-Edwards' sifaka has the southern-most range of the"
"the terrestrial Malagasy fauna from mainland Africa. Isolated on Madagascar with only a limited number of mammalian competitors, the lemurs did not have to compete with other evolving arboreal mammalian groups, such as squirrels. They were also spared from having to compete with monkeys, which evolved later. The intelligence, aggression, and deceptiveness of monkeys gave them an advantage over other primates in exploiting the environment. Lemurs have adapted to fill many open ecological niches since making their way to Madagascar. Their diversity in both behavior and morphology (outward appearance) rivals that of the monkeys and apes found elsewhere in the"
"and a variety of lowland and mountain forest, with mangroves along the coasts. There are more birds, mammals, and reptiles than one would expect to find on an Indian Ocean island, including lemurs, as in nearby Madagascar. Endemic species include 21 species of birds, 9 species of reptiles, and two species of fruit bats (Pteropus livingstonii and Rousettus obliviosus). Other mammals include the mongoose lemur (Eulemur mongoz) and a sub-species of the Seychelles fruit bat (Pteropus seychellensis comorensis). The population of the Comoros is currently over 700,000 and as it increases more and more forest is being cleared for farming,"
"by storms. Many of the species found on remote islands are endemic to a particular island or group of islands, meaning they are found nowhere else on earth. Examples of species endemic to islands include many flightless birds of New Zealand, lemurs of Madagascar, the Komodo dragon of Komodo, the dragon's blood tree of Socotra, Tuatara of New Zealand, and others. However, many such endemic species are related to species found on other nearby islands or continents; the relationship of the animals found on the Galápagos Islands to those found in South America is a well-known example. All of these"
"plant growth and a healthy forest ecosystem. These lemurs are also significant pollinators of the traveler's tree (""Ravenala madagascariensis""). Without destroying the inflorescence, they lick the nectar from deep inside the flower using their long muzzles and tongues, collecting and transferring pollen on their snouts and fur from plant to plant. This relationship is thought to be a result of co-evolution. Like all lemurs, this genus is found only on the island of Madagascar off the southeastern coast of Africa. Confined to the island's seasonal eastern tropical rainforests, it is uncommon to rare throughout its range, which historically ran from"
"others have become threatened. Historically, lemurs ranged across the entire island inhabiting a wide variety of habitats, including dry deciduous forests, lowland forests, spiny thickets, subhumid forests, montane forest, and mangrove. Today, their collective range is restricted to 10% of the island, or approximately . Most of the remaining forests and lemurs are found along the periphery of the island. The center of the island, the Hauts-Plateaux, was converted by early settlers to rice paddies and grassland through slash-and-burn agriculture, known locally as ""tavy"". As erosion depleted the soil, the cyclical forest regrowth and burning ended as the forest gradually"
"Due to Madagascar's highly seasonal climate, lemur evolution has produced a level of species diversity rivaling that of any other primate group. Until shortly after humans arrived on the island around 2,000 years ago, there were lemurs as large as a male gorilla. Today, there are nearly 100 species of lemurs, and most of those species have been discovered or promoted to full species status since the 1990s; however, lemur taxonomic classification is controversial and depends on which species concept is used. Even the higher-level taxonomy is disputed, with some experts preferring to place most lemurs within the infraorder Lemuriformes,"
"Bemaraha woolly lemur The Bemaraha woolly lemur (""Avahi cleesei""), also known as Cleese's woolly lemur, is a species of woolly lemur native to western Madagascar, named after John Cleese. The scientist who discovered the species named it after Cleese, star of Monty Python, mainly because of Cleese's fondness for lemurs, as shown in ""Operation Lemur With John Cleese"" and ""Fierce Creatures"", and his efforts at protecting and preserving them. The species was first discovered in 1990 by a team of scientists from Zurich University led by Urs Thalmann, but wasn't formally described as a species until November 11, 2005. The"
"lemurs (""Varecia variegata variegata"") born in the United States were returned to Madagascar for release in the Betampona Strict Nature Reserve in eastern Madagascar. Popularly known as the ""Carolina Five"", these individuals had lived their entire lives in the Natural Habitat Enclosures at the Duke Lemur Center (DLC). Since then, two more groups totaling 13 captive-born ruffed lemurs have been reintroduced into the same reserve, once in November 1998 and again in January 2001. These latter two groups also received ""boot camp training"" in the DLC forested free-range enclosures prior to release. So far, the results have shown some success,"
"island, with all endemic wildlife over disappearing, totaling approximately 25 species. The most severely impacted lemurs were generally large and diurnal, particularly the clade containing the living indriids and extinct sloth lemurs. Although only the indriids are alive today and represent only a small percentage of the living lemur species, this clade collectively contained the majority of the extinct giant lemur species. By region, the Central Highlands lost the greatest number of lemur species. It has lost nearly all of its woodland habitat, but some lemur species still survive in isolated forest patches. Lemur diversity is tightly linked with plant"
"Lemur Conservation Foundation The Lemur Conservation Foundation (LCF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and conservation of the primates of Madagascar through managed breeding, scientific research, education, and art. It was founded in 1996 by Penelope Bodry-Sanders under the advisement of paleoanthropologist Ian Tattersall. The foundation's reserve in Myakka City, Florida, is home to more than 50 lemurs of several different species, most of which are critically endangered or endangered, including ring-tailed lemurs, red ruffed lemurs, mongoose lemurs, collared brown lemurs, common brown lemurs and Sanford's lemurs. The Lemur Conservation Foundation maintains an active office in northeastern Madagascar"
"more with scents and vocalizations than with visual signals. Many lemur adaptations are in response to Madagascar's highly seasonal environment. Lemurs have relatively low basal metabolic rates and may exhibit seasonal breeding, dormancy (such as hibernation or torpor), or female social dominance. Most eat a wide variety of fruits and leaves, while some are specialists. Although many share similar diets, different species of lemur share the same forests by differentiating niches. Lemur research during the 18th and 19th centuries focused on taxonomy and specimen collection. Although field observations trickled in from early explorers, modern studies of lemur ecology and behavior"
"True lemur True lemurs, also known as brown lemurs, are the lemurs in genus Eulemur. They are medium-sized primates that live exclusively on Madagascar. The fur of the true lemurs is long and usually reddish brown. Often there is sexual dimorphism in coloration (sexual dichromatism), such as in the black lemur. True lemurs are from in length, with a tail that is as long or significantly longer than the body. They weigh from . True lemurs are predominantly diurnal forest inhabitants, with some species preferring rain forests, while others live in dry forests. They are skillful climbers and can cross"