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Neat to know ~ Creature of the week
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The Lemur
2020-10-26
– Lemurs are primates – and are therefore closely related to us. They are called prosimians, because they are primates that evolved before apes and monkeys.
– There are about 106 species of lemur, and they all live on the island of Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa. (See Madagascar on Google Earth: https://earth.google.com/Madagascar)
– These rare creatures are facing a bleak future. They could be extinct in less than 50 years.
Read on to learn more about the fascinating lemur.
The look of a lemur
- There are many species of lemur, and they all look different. But most of them have large round eyes, long back legs, and soft fur. Many have tails that are long and dramatic, like the ring-tailed lemur.
- Lemurs are usually gray, black, or reddish-brown. Some species have white markings on their heads and bodies.
- They range in size from the tiny pygmy mouse lemur, whose body length is only about 6 cm (less than 2.5 in.) – add 12 cm (5 in,) with the tail – and weighs about 30 g (1 oz.), to the 90 cm – (3 ft. -) long indri, the largest lemur, which can weigh up to 9.5 kg (21 lbs.). Some much bigger lemurs used to roam the forests of Madagascar. Researchers say that the now-extinct Archaeoindris was about the size of a gorilla.
- Lemurs love trees. And leaping. The bottoms of their hands and feet have pads, which keep them from slipping when they grab onto branches and make precarious landings.
Girl Power!
- Most lemur species live in social groups ruled by a dominant female.
- A lemur community will look to its matriarch to make decisions for the group, such as if they should move to another location. Other females – including the youngest of the group – rank higher than even the most senior male.
- Despite the fact that female lemurs are not larger or stronger than their male counterparts, they assert their superiority and authority in physical ways. A female may grab food out of the hands of a male, hit him upside the head, or force him out of a sleeping space that she prefers. When it comes to mealtimes, the females eat first, and the males make do with whatever is left.
Lean on me
- Lemurs generally live in groups (called “conspiracies”) of up to 30 members that depend upon one another for survival.
- They work together to protect themselves from predators. If danger is spotted, lemurs let out alarm calls or use their often strikingly patterned tails to send signals to others in the group. Lemurs may “mob” predators en masse. They have been observed attacking large predatory snakes, for example, overwhelming and then killing them.
- Ring-tailed lemurs often sleep in big happy bunches, piled on top of one another on the ground.
- Diurnal lemurs are active during the day. They have the biggest social groups. Nocturnal lemurs are active at night. They are smaller and might live alone, although they are still social with other lemurs.
- One way in which lemurs communicate is through vocalizations. Different species produce very different sounds – from low grunts, to high pitched squeaks, and even melodious expressions that sound a lot like whale calls. Listen to this recording of two indri: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX-16wVKK9U
- Lemurs have an acute sense of smell. Family members share the same scent, and they communicate with one another using scent signals.
One home
- Scientists think that the ancestor of the lemur got to Madagascar from the African continent some 6o million years ago. No other primates made it over to the island, and few predators were around. As a result, the lemurs thrived and their numbers exploded. They evolved to survive in the diverse ecosystems of Madagascar, and each of the 106 species of lemur adapted perfectly to a certain niche found on the island.
- When humans appeared on the scene, the lemurs’ stable existence was threatened for the first time. Unfortunately, lemurs in the wild have no other home, so once Madagascar’s forests turned into unstable habitats, lemur groups began shrinking – fast.
Losing the lemur
- Currently, lemurs are the most endangered mammals on the planet. All lemur species are vulnerable to some degree, and many are endangered or critically endangered. The northern sportive lemur, for instance, is almost gone; there are less than 100 left in the wild. Also endangered is the ring-tailed lemur. One study has determined that its numbers have decreased by 95% in just the last 20 years.
- The main threat to the lemur’s survival is habitat loss. Not even 10% of Madagascar’s forests remain, which is devastating for the tree-bound lemur. Much of the forest has been destroyed by the logging industry or by impoverished people who clear land for crops out of a need to survive. There is no easy solution to the problem of habitat destruction.
- Lemurs are hunted in high numbers.
- Lemur babies are sometimes taken from the wild to be sold in the global pet trade.
- Climate change is another factor affecting not just lemurs, but all species. As areas become increasingly uninhabitable, wildlife will die out at faster rates.
- There are organizations rushing to save the precious lemur, before it’s too late. If you want to find out more, start with the World Wildlife Federation – https://www.worldwildlife.org/places/madagascar .
Sources: lemurconservationnetwork.org, “Top 10 Facts About Lemurs,” https://www.lemurconservationnetwork.org/top-10-facts-about-lemurs/ ; McLendon, Russell, treehugger.com, “12 Incredible Facts about Lemurs,” https://www.treehugger.com/incredible-facts-about-lemurs-4868779 , July 28, 2020; animals.sandiegozoo.org, “Animals and Plants: Lemur,” https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/lemur ; animalfactsencyclopedia.com, “Lemur Facts,” https://www.animalfactsencyclopedia.com/Lemur-facts.html