VERY INTERESTING: LEMURS

 Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about

Facts About Lemurs

What animal loves to bask in the sun, has sweat glands in their wrists, and is found only in Madagascar? The lemur! Let’s learn some fun facts about lemurs: what makes lemurs unique, how many species there are, and how you can help them.

1. Madagascar is the only place lemurs naturally call home.

Located 250 miles off the east coast of Africa is the island of Madagascar, the 4th largest island in the world, and the only habitat for wild lemurs in the world.

Madagascar is one of the world’s most important biodiversity hotspots! While a large proportion of its wildlife found nowhere else, much of Madagascar’s wildlife is also threatened by human actions.

Interestingly, some lemur species—the brown lemur and mongoose lemur—were introduced by humans and now live on the Comoros islands, a volcanic group of islands located off the north west coast of Madagascar.

2. There are over 100 species of lemur, in all shapes and sizes.

With an estimated 112 species, lemurs come in all shapes and sizes. The smallest, Madame berthe’s mouse lemur, has an average body weight of 30g, and the largest, the indri, weighs about 6-9.5kg (that’s about the size of a human child!). The number of lemur species changes often due to new discoveries and genetic testing, leading to the scientific classification of new species!

The indri is the largest of the living lemurs, however subfossil records show extinct lemurs as large as 85kg! Most notably, Archaeoindris fontoynontii is an extinct giant lemur that belonged to the “sloth lemur” family. It was thought to be the size of a gorilla!

3. Lemurs have a female-dominant society.

Who rules the world? Well, in lemur society the females rule! At the center of lemur society is a female leader who rises to the occasion of directing a social group. This happens quite rarely in mammals, where male dominance generally stands. Lemur females show signs of dominance in the way they mark their territories within the group. Another fact is that female lemurs snatch food away from the males, kick them out of sleeping spots, and show actual physical aggression.

4. As crucial seed dispersers, lemurs are “creators of the forests”.

Lemurs help maintain forest diversity, structure, and dynamics through the movement of seeds! Yes, some lemur species play a significant role in their ecosystem by being seed dispersers. But what does this mean?

Being a seed disperser means they help seeds and/or pollen move from one area to another. Ruffed lemurs, like the black and white ruffed lemur, is a good example of a lemur that acts as a key seed disperser.

Individual lemurs can get pollen or seeds stuck on their fur as they search for fruits and nectar. Then, they pass this pollen and seeds on to other flowers. Sometimes seeds even get dispersed to new areas when lemurs eat fruit; the seeds pass through their digestive system and are excreted in their poop!

Many of Madagascar’s flowering plants and tree species depend highly on lemur species, such as the ruffed lemurs, to disperse their seeds.

5. Besides humans, lemurs are one of the only primates that have blue eyes.

Primates have a variety of eye shapes and colors, but blue irises are rare in mammals. Other than humans, the only primates with naturally occurring blue eyes are the blue-eyed black lemurs, sometimes called Sclater’s lemurs. The blue-eyed black lemur is one of the most threatened lemur species, listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of threatened species . 

Lemur Conservation Network member AEECL supports conservation efforts for the blue-eyed black lemur both in their natural habitat and in zoos

And as always have a chilled day from the Viking