Lemurs are found only in Madagascar and the Comoro Islands. There, however, they are a diverse group of 10 species placed in 4 genera. These small to medium-sized primates are herbivorous or omnivorous, arboreal, and diurnal. Members of the group vary considerably, however, in diet and habit. Some species, are frugivorous, some eat foliage, others include some insects in their diets, and some are even specialized to feed on the leaves of bamboo. All lemurs are at least partly arboreal, but a few spend considerable time on the ground. Lemurs move through the trees both by running along branches and by leaping from vertical stems or trunks ("vertical clingers and leapers"). Some lemurs are brightly colored, with contrasting patches of black, white, brown, gray or rufous. Color patterns are sexually dimorphic in some members of the family. Lemurs have long, heavily furred tails, and slender bodies and limbs. The fur is soft and wooly. Their external ears are short or moderately long, and they are at least partially covered with fur.
Ten Facts about Lemurs
- Lemurs are primarily arboreal, which means that they live on trees. However, the larger species of Lemurs also live on the ground.
- Lemurs usually have a vegetarian diet, consisting of leaves and fruit, although they will occassionally eat insects or smaller animals.
- Out of the fifty different kinds of lemurs, ten of those types are critically endangered, seven are endangered, and nineteen are considered vulnerable.
- The sense of smell, or olfaction, is highly important to lemurs and is frequently used in communication.
- Lemurs really are very small in size. The smallest species weighs about 30 grams while the largest species weighs about 10 kilograms.
- The normal life span of a Lemur is about eighteen years.
- Some lemurs can fly also. (flying lemurs).
- Female lemurs carry newborns in their mouth until the baby is able to cling to the fur on the mother's stomach or back.
- The species became extinct when humans first settled in Madagascar about 2,000 years ago.
- Though they are primates, lemurs are much less closely related to humans than monkeys and apes.
