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Lemurs

Lemurs will be the highlight of your holiday in Madagascar. You can be sure of spotting several species when visiting our famous reserves. Lemurs are primates, but not monkeys nor apes. They are a group of primates referred to often as "prosimians" (along with the lorises, bush babies, pottos and tarsiers). Lemurs are found only on Madagascar and a couple of small surrounding islands (where monkeys and apes do not occur).

Madagascar is a sanctuary for lemurs, which are found only here and on the Comoro Islands. Madagascar is home to nine-tenths of all the world's lemur species. 30 species of lemur are currently recognized. Because of destruction of their habitat (deforestation) by humans, their number are steadily dwindling. So, some species are in danger and at extreme risk of extinction.

How to take pictures of Lemurs ?

Do be sure to take pictures of lemurs. The best way to get a good shot is to catch them when they are sunbathing in the early morning. They spread their arms to soak up all available heat and will remain motionless long enough for good pictures ...

History

Although it was once thought that lemurs were on Madagascar when the island separated from Africa, recent advances in geological science have shown that Madagascar was separated from Africa long before primates evolved. We now assume that the ancestors of Madagascar's lemurs have crossed over from Africa on floating vegetation. Once on Madagascar, the lemurs underwent an amazing radiation, evolving into about 50 different species. Then, about 2,000 years ago, the first human settlers arrived on Madagascar. By the time the Europeans reached Madagascar in the mid-1600s, 15 species of lemurs had become extinct! All of these 15 "subfossil" lemur species were larger than any of the surviving species. The largest of these was Archaeoindris, which is estimated to have weighed 160-200 kg, or as much as an adult male gorilla! Another group, the "sloth lemurs" including Babakotia and Paleopropithecus, weighed 20kg and 40kg respectively, and appear to have traveled by hanging upside from branches like current South American sloths. Another unusual extinct lemur, Megaladapis, (40-80 kg) appears to have to hung onto trees much like an Australian koala. The loss forever of these bizarre and wonderful animals in the recent past is tragic.

The species living today are small to medium sized mammals ranging from the tiny pygmy mouse lemur (Microcebus myoxinus) which weighs only 30 grams (about 1 ounce!), to the largest lemurs, the Indri (Indri indri) and the Diademed Sifaka (Propithecus diadema diadema) which may weigh slightly over 7 kg (7,000 grams or about 15 pounds).

Lemurs are mammals, and more specifically, primates, as are monkeys, apes and humans. Lemurs resemble advanced primates chiefly in the structure of their hands and feet. With the exception of the indri (Indri indri), lemurs have long furry tails. They use these tails for balance when leaping through the forest canopy, but unlike New World monkeys, these tails are not prehensile, and lemurs cannot hang from them.

Habitat

Various species of lemurs can be found in habitats as different as the lush, wet, rainforest of eastern Madagascar and the very dry spiny desert in the southwest. Lemurs spend most of their time in trees or large bushes, although the ringtail lemur, the most terrestrial species, may spend as much as half of its day on the ground. Some lemurs are nocturnal, others are active at dusk and a few are diurnal. The smaller species tend to be nocturnal, but most of the larger species are active during the day.

Food

Lemurs feed primarily on leaves and fruits, and most are arboreal. For some of nocturnal lemurs, insects form a large part of their diet. Some lemurs eat bird's eggs, birds and reptiles.

Lemurs fill an important ecological role on the island of Madagascar. These primates often feed on an assortment of seasonal fruits and as they travel throughout their environment, they disperse undigested seeds in their manure. The seeds soon sprout to replenish the vegetation that sustains Madagascar's unique inhabitants. This is very important on an island where over 80% of the original habitats have been lost to logging and agriculture.

Different species

Among the most familiar lemurs, we can mention the following species : Lemur fulvus (brown lemur), Hapalemur aureus (golden bamboo lemur), Hapalemur griseus (grey bamboo lemur), Microcebus murinus (grey mouse lemur), Microcebus rufus (rufous mouse lemur), Propithecus verreauxi (verreaux's sifaka), Propithecus diadema (diademed sifaka), Indri indri (indri) and Daubentonia madagascariensis (Aye-aye).

Dwarf Microcebus

The Dwarf Microcebus is no bigger than a mouse. The tiny lemur has a a weight of about 60 g

Ring-tailed Lemurs (the Catta)

Malagasy names: Maki, Hira

Lemurs are completely arboreal except the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), named maki by Malagasy, which spends much of its time on the ground where it travel on all fours and enjoys sunning itself. The ring-tailed lemur has a peculiar sitting habit when resting or warming up: resting on its posterior with its tail used to balance itself, arms either outstretched or balanced on its knees, it looks more like a reflective Buddha than a prosimian.
The catta has a distinctive gray body and long black-and-white striped tail. The catta is about the size of a house cat: Head and body 17 inches (42.5cm), tail 24 inches (60cm) Weight: 3 - 3.5kg).

Ring-tailed lemurs are found in social groups of 3 - 25 individuals. Females remain in the group to which they were born for their entire lives, while males may change groups when they reach sexual maturity. Ringtail groups range over a considerable area each day in search of food. All group members use this common home range, and groups are often aggressive towards other groups at the borders of these areas.

Females are usually dominant to males, which gives them preferential access to food and the choice of whom to mate with.

Ring-tailed lemurs have scent glands on their wrists and chests that they use to mark their foraging routes. Males even have a horny spur on each wrist gland that they use to pierce tree branches before scent marking them. When ring-tailed troops travel throughout their home range, they keep their tails raised in the air, like flags, to keep group members together. Ring-tailed lemurs can spend up to 40% of their day on the ground.

Ring-tailed lemurs are one of the most vocal primates. They have several different alarm calls to alert members of their group to potential danger.

Habitat: Arid, open areas and forests, spending as much as 40% of their time on the ground. Ring-tailed lemurs are found in south and southwestern Madagascar, from Fort-Dauphin west and as far north as Morandava on the west coast. A small additional population lives near the mountains of Andringitra on the southeastern plateau.

Diet: Fruit, leaves, flowers, herbs, and other plant parts, occasional insect and small vertebrate prey

Lifespan: 20 - 25 years

Reproduction: Mating: Extremely seasonal, beginning in mid-April in the wild. Gestation: 134 - 138 days. Ring-tailed females usually give birth first at 3 years of age and produce offspring annually thereafter. In the wild, mating begins in mid-April with infants born in August and September. Single infants are most common, but twins are a frequent site in ringtail troops when food is plentiful. Initially, infants cling to their mother’s bellies, but can be seen riding, jockey style, on their backs after approximately two weeks. Infants begin to sample solid food after their first week, and will take their first steps away from mom at 3 - 4 weeks. Over the next 5 months, infants will spend increasing amounts of time on their own, returning to mom to nurse or sleep, until they are finally weaned at 5 - 6 months of age.

The Sifaka

The Indri

The forest-dwelling indri is the tallest of all lemurs. It is regarded as sacred, believed to be a human transformed after death. The Indri only eats leaves so it has to eat a large number of different species of leaf in order to get a reasonably balanced diet.Nearly extinct, this black-and-white mammal lives in small groups, marking its territory with its deafening screams and barks.

Brown Lemurs

There are seven subspecies of brown lemur, all of which can interbreed. Geographical isolation of subspecies in the wild however prevents interbreeding. All brown lemurs are similar in body size and life history but have different coat markings and coloration.

Common Brown Lemur

Malagasy names: Varika, Varikosy, Dredrika

Size: About the size of a house cat Length:Body 20 inches (50 cm), tail 20 inches (50 cm) Weight: 5.75 lbs (2.6 kg). Male and female common brown lemurs are almost identical in size and color.

Both males and females are brown to dark-gray with light beards and dark faces.

Brown lemurs live in social groups of between 3 and 12 individuals. Social groups will often break into subgroups throughout the day and come back together at night. They are mostly found in scattered forest fragment in the high plateaus in western Madagascar north of the Betsiboka River and on the islands of Mayotte and Comores.

Diet: mostly fruit, young leaves and flowers.

Lifespan: 20 - 25 years in the wild

Reproduction: Sexual maturity: 1 year. Mating: very seasonal June - July. Infants are born between September and November. Number of young: One per year. In the wild, female brown lemurs give birth to a single offspring in the fall, after a gestation period of approximately 120 days. Infants cling to their mothers’ bellies for the first 3 weeks, shifting only to nurse. At approximately 3 weeks of age, the young lemurs will begin spending time riding, jockey style, on mom’s back, and then will take their first tentative steps. With this hint of independence, infants begin to taste solid food, sampling bits of whatever the other members of their group are eating. Nursing continues, in a steady decline in importance in the infant’s diet, until the infant is weaned at approximately 5 - 6 months of age.

Bamboo Lemurs

Bamboo lemurs are named for the large amounts of bamboo in their diet. There are three recognized species of bamboo lemurs: the gray bamboo lemurs (Hapalemur griseus), the greater bamboo lemur (Hapalemur simus), and the golden bamboo lemur (Hapalemur aureus). The golden bamboo lemur is as rare as its diet. It consumes what scientists consider 12 times its lethal dose of cyanide daily in the bamboo it eats.

There are 5 species and subspecies of bamboo lemur each occupying a different habitat in Madagascar, including the Lac Aloatra bamboo lemurs (Hapalemur griseus alaotrensis).

Eastern lesser bamboo lemurs

With the size of a guinea pig eastern lesser bamboo lemurs are the smallest diurnal lemurs. Both sexes have a gray coat with a reddish head. The muzzle of these lemurs is noticeably shorter than that of other lemurs.

They are active/awake at times during both the day and the night and live in permanent social groups of between 2 and 6 individuals. It is not unusual for groups to contain more than two breeding females. Within the group, females are usually dominant to males, giving them preferential access to food and the choice of whom to mate with.

Eastern lesser bamboo lemurs are found throughout all remaining eastern forests from the Tsaratanana Massif in the north to Fort-Dauphin in the south.

Lifespan: 22 years in captivity

Reproduction: Sexual maturity: 2 years Mating: very seasonal June - August Gestation: approximately 140 days, infants are born between October and January Number of young: One per year Reproduction: In the wild, female eastern lesser bamboo lemurs give birth to one offspring in the late-fall - early-winter, after a gestation period of approximately 140 days. Infants are carried on their mother’s back soon after birth and may be "parked" for short periods of time. Males have been observed carrying infants in captivity.

The Aye-aye

Malagasy names: Hay-Hay, Ahay, Aiay

The most bizarre of all the lemur species living today is certainly the Aye-aye which became the model for the film creation "E.T." The aye-aye is the only member of the family Daubentoniidae, and is the rarest of all lemurs. The size of a fox, the Aye-aye has a bushy tail, huge bat-like ears, rabbit-like teeth and an elongated skeletal finger. It has mixed short white hairs and long white-tipped black hairs with huge black ears and a pale face.

Aye-aye are nocturnal, solitary foragers who spend up to 80% of the night traveling and feeding. They spend most of their time in the trees although traveling on the ground is not uncommon. Aye-aye sleep in nests in trees during the day and different individuals will use the same nest on different days. Aye-aye spend most of their lives alone. The only social interactions occur during courtship and when an infant is dependant on its mother. During these interactions, females are considered to be dominant over males, giving them preferential access to food.

Aye-aye are very sparsely distributed along the east coast and in the northwestern forests of Madagascar. They live in moist forest - rainforest, and are occasionally found in dry forest where they feed themselves with insect larvae, interior of the ramy nut, nectar and fungi. Aye-aye have a remarkable way of searching for food. A large percentage of their diet consists of insect larvae that live inside dead wood. They find the larvae by tapping on branches and listening to the reverberations through the wood. When they find a gap or crack in the wood (which may contain insect larvae), aye-aye will bite through the outer layers of bark with their razor-sharp teeth and reach a long, bony finger inside the hole to pull out their prey. Reproduction: Sexual maturity: 2 years, in captivity. Mating: No restricted season, births may occur at any time of year. Gestation: 160 days. Number of young: One offspring every 2 - 3 years. Aye-aye breeding can occur at any time of year.

Fossa

Cryptoprocta ferox

The highly endangered fossa is the largest predator on the island of Madagascar. Related to the mongoose and resembling a short-legged cougar, this skilled climber hunts insects, reptiles, and small mammals such as lemurs. It grows to 91 centimetres (35.8 inches) long—though its tail adds another 61 centimetres (2 feet)—and weighs 11 kilograms (24.3 pounds).

Civet

Apart lemur, Madagascar have other original and unique mammals. There are 7 species of endemic species of carnivore in the island. The most famous is the reddish fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) which looks like a small puma but it is a member of the civet family, Viverridae. Among the carnivore known, it is the only one to venture near villages and on uncovered spaces. It is nocturnal and preys on lemurs and small domestic animals. It have the reputation tobe a dangerous killer. When annoyed, it discharges an odorous scent from its anal glands.

Tenrecs

The tenrecs are other mammals endemic to Madagascar. There are more than 20 species. Tenrecs are insect-eating. These nocturnal animals are extremely prolific (litters of up to 25). Some species hibernate through the hot, dry season.

Tailless Tenrecs

(Tenrec ecaudatus) When food is scarce during the dry season, this small mammal of the forests of Madagascar remains in its burrow in a torpor, its breathing falling to three times per minute. At other times, it can repopulate explosively, delivering up to 30 young per litter—the highest fecundity of any mammal. The tailless tenrec sports a long, pointed snout and is covered with spiny bristles.