What are lemurs?

 

Hello and welcome to Lemur Bootcamp’s first Lab Note! It’s Fay here, and I will be taking charge of the first note. I have been working in the field of lemur conservation for the past three years, and they are a truly wonderful but often misunderstood group of primates. Watching our short cartoon presentation is a great way to get inspired by lemurs in less than 3 minutes, so please jump back to the campaign homepage if you haven’t watched it yet. We can’t give you detailed information in such a short presentation, so keep reading for more!

When you think of a lemur, perhaps you visualize the famous ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) with its light grey fur, long muzzle and striking black-and-white ringed tail. But this gorgeous creature is only one of 106 extant (living) species of lemur known to science. Lemurs are an extraordinarily diverse taxonomic group representing over 20% of the world’s primate species. You may be less familiar with the silky sifaka (Propithecus candidus); a lemur with plush teddy bear fur that travels on the ground by leaping sideways. Perhaps you have heard of the aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis); a lemur that uses its alien-like finger to probe for insects inside hollow logs.  And let us not forget the very small, nocturnal lemurs such as the shy hairy-eared dwarf lemur (Allocebus trichotis); a lemur that creeps around the forest almost undetected. Not to mention the now-extinct giant lemurs, and species yet to be discovered in the tiny remaining forest fragments of Madagascar.

Most of Madagascar’s plants and animals are endemic, meaning they are found nowhere else on earth. Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot, considered by many to have the highest priority biodiversity because of its unique evolutionary history. Many species have evolved there in isolation for millions of years, since the island broke away from the mainland. Some scientists believe that the ancestors of modern lemurs ‘rafted’ to Madagascar from Africa around 50 million years ago, aboard logs and vegetation washed out in stormy seas. Another theory is that mammals travelled to Madagascar via a land bridge that later vanished as the continents moved further apart.

Lemurs are often referred to as ‘primitive’ primates because they have been around for a long time in evolutionary terms. But ‘primitive’ does not mean that lemurs lack intelligence, or have other inferior characteristics. Lemurs are supremely adapted to their unique environments but they are now in serious trouble because their evolution on Madagascar featured little pressure from competitors or predators. Today, with relatively sudden and unparalleled anthropogenic (human) pressures, lemurs are threatened with extinction. In an upcoming Lab Note, we will explain more about the threats facing lemurs, and how Bristol Zoological Society works towards saving lemurs from extinction. So stay tuned for that!

Thanks for your interest in lemurs, and for backing this project. Bye for now! Fay

Mittermeier, R.A., Louis Jr, E.E., Richardson, M., Schwitzer, C., Langrand, O., Rylands, A.B., Hawkins, F., Rajaobelina, S., Ratsimbazafy, J., Rasoloarison, R.M. and Roos, C., 2010. Lemurs of Madagascar, 3rd edition, Tropical Field Guide Series. Conservation International, Arlington, VA.

Ali, J.R., and Huber, C. 2010. Mammalian biodiversity on Madagascar controlled by ocean currents. Nature 463(7281): 653-656.

Photo credit: Bob Pitchford