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Have you heard of a kind of primate called lemurs, sometimes known as the greater mouse? Even if you have heard of them or seen pictures of these creatures, you may have never connected them to primates, because of their appearance.
Lemurs are a special class of primates known as prosimiants found only in Madagascar, (the world's fourth largest island), which is 226,650 square miles in size, and the Comoro Islands. Most of you must be aware of the location of Madagascar, in the Indian Ocean, 250 miles off the Southeastern coast of Africa. The Comoro Islands are situated in the North of Madagascar.
It is believed that more than 40 million years ago, some of the ancestors of modern lemurs were carried out to sea on islands of floating vegetation, and ended up on the island of Madagascar. As time passed, these animals evolved into many different species, ranging from the size of a mouse, to the size of a St. Bernard dog.
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Today, there are 14 genera of lemurs. There are 50 species of lemurs, and out of these, about 17 are on the endangered species list. The name lemur is derived from the Latin word lemures, which means 'spirits of the night'. This may have been given due to the large, reflective eyes of the nocturnal species.
Ring-tailed lemurs
This type of lemurs are easy to recognize because of their long, black and white striped tails and the black mask patterns on their white faces. Their fur is a solid brownish grey on the back. Their bellies however are white. An adult lemur is no bigger than a cat.
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As ring-tailed lemurs are partly arboreal and partly terrestrial, they spend more time on the ground hunting for food, which consists mainly of fruits and some leaves, and occasionally insects.
Ring-tailed lemurs live in groups of 5-25 animals in which the adult females are dominant over the males. Females stay in the group into which they are born, but the males move away.
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Their food and their babies...
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Some lemurs are omnivores and some are herbivores. They eat fruits, flowers, leaves, insects, spiders and small vertebrate.
Baby lemurs are born during early spring, that's around September in Madagascar. Once mama lemur gives birth to a single baby, she takes good care of it. Baby lemur travels about clinging to its mother's belly during the first two weeks of life. Then, when it becomes a little too big to do this, it jumps on to her back and gets about, until it becomes too large to do even this.
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What lemurs look like
Even though there are many kinds of lemurs, most have long, pointed noses, which contribute to their excellent sense of smell, coats that vary from reddish brown colour to grey, long limbs, flexible toes and fingers.
They come in all different sizes. The Pygmy Mouse lemur, which is the smallest, weighs only an ounce, but the biggest ones, the Indri and Diademed Sifaka lemurs can weigh up to 15 pounds, which is about the size of a big cat. They have big, bushy tails which they often wrap around their own bodies or that of a neighbour's, when they are at rest.
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Species under threat
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The lemurs are faced with the threat of extinction on different levels. Some lemurs, such as the Red-ruffed lemur and certain types of Bamboo lemurs are considered to be in the 'Critically endangered' list. In the list of 'Endangered' lemurs, Hairy-eared dwarf lemur, the Golden brown mouse lemur and the Black and white ruffed lemur are included.
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The Black lemur, Crowned lemur and a number of Fork-marked lemurs are all on the 'Vulnerable' list, while the Avahi, the Lesser Bamboo lemur and a number of supportive lemurs are classed in the 'Lower risk' category as they have the best chance of survival in the wilds.
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Why they are threatened...
The loss of habitat due to large-scale deforestation for the purpose of agriculture, timber production and other purposes is the main cause for the depletion of the lemur population in Madagascar and Comoro Islands.
The lemurs are also hunted for food and also out of fear the people have for these strange creatures, especially the Aye-aye.
Madagascar is not a rich country, and most people cannot think of conservation when they are struggling to put food on the table to feed their families. However, measures have been taken to make the people aware as to why they should protect not only the endangered species of lemurs, but all other remaining life forms in the rich rainforests of Madagascar.
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Already, parts of the rainforest have been set aside and have become protected areas for a large number of unique plants, and animals that call it home.
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Their habits and habitat
Most lemurs are arboreal, which means that they spend a major part of their time on trees and bushes. They have a good grip to hang on to branches. Their long tails help them to maintain their balance when they leap from tree to tree. The Ringtail lemur does not spend as much time on trees as its cousins, because it prefers to run about on the ground, most of the time.
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Lemurs that are awake and active during the day live in groups, but nocturnal lemurs tend to live alone. In general, lemurs are social animals.
The lemurs which are found only in Madagascar and neighbouring Comoro Islands live in a variety of habitats ranging from moist, tropical rainforests to dry desert areas.
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Communication methods
Since lemurs, with their long noses, have an excellent sense of smell, they use their sense of smell to 'talk' to each other. Now, if you are puzzled as to how they use their noses to talk, let's check it out.
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Lemurs have scent glands on their bottoms and on their feet. These help them to leave out odours on whatever surfaces they cross. So, when another lemur goes by that route, it enables the lemur to know that a lemur has passed that way. Lemurs also use their tails to communicate.
They wave the tails in the air when they want to get their message across to another lemur. They also make noises to communicate.
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