Ring-tailed Lemur

Lemur catta

The ring-tailed lemur is one of the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to the family Lemuridao, one of five lemur families and is the only member of the Lemur genus. Like all lemurs it is endemic to the island of Madagascar, where it inhabits forests and shrubland in the southern region. They are terrestrial animals, they spend much of their time up in the trees but will also come to the ground. Ring-tailed lemurs are omnivorous eating mainly fruit, leaves, and insects. They are considered diurnal, being active during the daylight hours and sleeping in the evening.

The ring-tailed lemur is a highly social animal, living in groups of up to 30 lemurs! These groups are a matriarchy, where there is a dominant female lemur. When they rest they will all huddle together to keep warm, this also reaffirms social bonds. Lemurs are equipped with special adaptations to help with foraging for food and mating. They have a keen sense of smell and will mark its territory with scent glands. Males perform a unique scent marking behavior called spur marking. Lemurs are very vocal primates, they use numerous vocalizations for group cohesion and alarm calls. Experiments have shown that ring-tailed lemurs can organize sequences, understand basic arithmetic, and use tools based on functional qualities.