Lemuridae is a
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
of
strepsirrhine primate
Primates are a diverse order of mammals. They are divided into the strepsirrhines, which include the lemurs, galagos, and lorisids, and the haplorhines, which include the tarsiers and the simians ( monkeys and apes, the latter includin ...
s native to
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...
and the
Comoros
The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...
. They are represented by the Lemuriformes in Madagascar with one of the highest concentration of the lemurs. One of five families commonly known as
lemur
Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are wet-nosed primates of the superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are endemic to the island of Madagas ...
s. These animals were once thought to be the evolutionary predecessors of
monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
s and
apes, but this is no longer considered correct. They are formally referred to as lemurids.
Classification
The family Lemuridae contains 21 extant species in five
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
.
Family Lemuridae
*Genus ''
Lemur
Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are wet-nosed primates of the superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are endemic to the island of Madagas ...
''
**
Ring-tailed lemur
The ring-tailed lemur (''Lemur catta'') is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families, and is the only member of the ''Lemur'' ...
, ''Lemur catta''
*Genus ''
Eulemur'', true lemurs''
**
Common brown lemur
The common brown lemur (''Eulemur fulvus'') is a species of lemur in the family Lemuridae. It is found in Madagascar and has been introduced to Mayotte.
Taxonomy
Five additional currently recognized species of lemur were until 2001 considered ...
, ''Eulemur fulvus''
**
Sanford's brown lemur
Sanford's brown lemur (''Eulemur sanfordi''), or Sanford's lemur, is a species of strepsirrhine primate in the family Lemuridae. Sanford's brown lemur was previously considered a subspecies of the common brown lemur (''Eulemur fulvus'') but was ...
, ''Eulemur sanfordi''
**
White-headed lemur
The white-headed lemur (''Eulemur albifrons''), also known as the white-headed brown lemur, white-fronted brown lemur, or white-fronted lemur, is a species of primate in the family Lemuridae. It is only found in north-eastern Madagascar. It is ...
, ''Eulemur albifrons''
**
Red lemur
The red lemur (''Eulemur rufus''), also known as the rufous brown lemur or northern red-fronted lemur, is a species of lemur from Madagascar. Until 2001, the species ''E. rufus'' was considered a subspecies of the common brown lemur, ''E. fulvu ...
, ''Eulemur rufus''
**
Red-fronted lemur
The red-fronted lemur (''Eulemur rufifrons''), also known as the red-fronted brown lemur or southern red-fronted brown lemur, is a species of lemur from Madagascar. Until 2001, it was considered a subspecies of the common brown lemur, ''E. fu ...
, ''Eulemur rufifrons''
**
Collared brown lemur, ''Eulemur collaris''
**
Gray-headed lemur, ''Eulemur cinereiceps''
**
Black lemur, ''Eulemur macaco''
**
Blue-eyed black lemur, ''Eulemur flavifrons''
**
Crowned lemur, ''Eulemur coronatus''
**
Red-bellied lemur, ''Eulemur rubriventer''
**
Mongoose lemur, ''Eulemur mongoz''
*Genus ''
Varecia'', ruffed lemurs
**
Black-and-white ruffed lemur
The black-and-white ruffed lemur (''Varecia variegata'') is an endangered species of ruffed lemur, one of two which are endemic to the island of Madagascar. Despite having a larger range than the red ruffed lemur, it has a much smaller populati ...
, ''Varecia variegata''
**
Red ruffed lemur
The red ruffed lemur (''Varecia rubra'') is one of two species in the genus ''Varecia'', the ruffed lemurs; the other is the black-and-white ruffed lemur (''Varecia variegata''). Like all lemurs, it is native to Madagascar. It occurs only in the ...
, ''Varecia rubra''
*Genus ''
Hapalemur'', bamboo lemurs
**
Eastern lesser bamboo lemur (a.k.a. gray gentle bamboo lemur), ''Hapalemur griseus''
**
Southern lesser bamboo lemur, ''Hapalemur meridionalis''
**
Western lesser bamboo lemur, ''Hapalemur occidentalis''
**
Lac Alaotra gentle lemur (a.k.a. ''bandro''), ''Hapalemur alaotrensis''
**
Golden bamboo lemur, ''Hapalemur aureus''
**
Greater bamboo lemur, ''Hapalemur simus''
*Genus †''
Pachylemur
''Pachylemur'' is an extinct, giant lemur most closely related to the ruffed lemurs of genus ''Varecia''. Two species are known, ''Pachylemur insignis'' and ''Pachylemur jullyi'', although there is some doubt as to whether or not they may actua ...
''
**†''
Pachylemur insignis''
**†''
Pachylemur jullyi''
This family was once broken into two subfamilies, Hapalemurinae (
bamboo lemurs and the
greater bamboo lemur) and Lemurinae (the rest of the family), but molecular evidence and the similarity of the scent glands have since placed the
ring-tailed lemur
The ring-tailed lemur (''Lemur catta'') is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families, and is the only member of the ''Lemur'' ...
with the bamboo lemurs and the greater bamboo lemur.
Lemur species in the genus ''
Eulemur'' are known to interbreed, despite having dramatically different
chromosome
A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins ar ...
numbers.
Red-fronted (
2N=60) and
collared (
2N=50–52) brown lemurs were found to
hybridize at
Berenty Reserve,
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Afric ...
.
Characteristics
Lemurids are medium-sized arboreal primates, ranging from 32 to 56 cm in length, excluding the tail, and weighing from 0.7 to 5 kg. They have long, bushy tails and soft, woolly fur of varying coloration. The hindlegs are slightly longer than the forelegs, although not enough to hamper fully
quadrupedal movement (unlike the
sportive lemur
The sportive lemurs are the medium-sized primates that make up the family Lepilemuridae. The family consists of only one extant genus, ''Lepilemur''. They are closely related to the other lemurs and exclusively live on the island of Madagascar. ...
s). Most species are highly agile, and regularly leap several metres between trees. They have a good
sense of smell
The sense of smell, or olfaction, is the special sense through which smells (or odors) are perceived. The sense of smell has many functions, including detecting desirable foods, hazards, and pheromones, and plays a role in taste.
In humans, ...
and
binocular vision
In biology, binocular vision is a type of vision in which an animal has two eyes capable of facing the same direction to perceive a single three-dimensional image of its surroundings. Binocular vision does not typically refer to vision where an ...
. Unlike most other lemurs, all but one species of lemurid (the
ring-tailed lemur
The ring-tailed lemur (''Lemur catta'') is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families, and is the only member of the ''Lemur'' ...
) lack a
tapetum lucidum
The ''tapetum lucidum'' ( ; ; ) is a layer of tissue in the eye of many vertebrates and some other animals. Lying immediately behind the retina, it is a retroreflector. It reflects visible light back through the retina, increasing the light a ...
,
a reflective layer in the eye that improves night vision. Historically among mammals, activity cycles are either strictly diurnal or nocturnal, however, these can widely vary across species. Lemur activity has in general evolved from nocturnal to diurnal. Some lemurs are also cathemeral, an activity pattern where an animal is neither strictly diurnal nor nocturnal.
Lemurids are
herbivorous
A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpar ...
, eating fruit, leaves, and, in some cases,
nectar
Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualist ...
. For the most part, they have the
dental formula
Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiolog ...
: . A lemur's diet is one that is not restricted since their diet consists of frugivory, granivory, folivory, insectivory, omnivory, and gumnivory foods. Some
Subfossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
records have contributed to the knowledge of the currently extant lemurs from the
Holocene
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...
by showing the changes in their dental records in habitats near human activity. This demonstrates that lemur species such as the lemur
''catta'' and the common brown lemur were forced to switch their primary diet to a group of secondary food sources.
With most lemurids, the mother gives birth to one or two young after a
gestation
Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pr ...
period of between 120 and 140 days, depending on species. The
ruffed lemur species are the only lemurids that have true litters, consisting of anywhere from two to six offspring. They are generally sociable animals, living in groups of up to thirty individuals in some species.
In some cases, such as the ring-tailed lemur, the groups are long-lasting, with distinct dominance hierarchies, while in others, such as the
common brown lemur
The common brown lemur (''Eulemur fulvus'') is a species of lemur in the family Lemuridae. It is found in Madagascar and has been introduced to Mayotte.
Taxonomy
Five additional currently recognized species of lemur were until 2001 considered ...
, the membership of the groups varies from day to day, and seems to have no clear social structure.
[
Some of the lemur traits include low basal metabolic rate, highly seasonal breeders, adaptations to unpredictable climate and female dominance. Female dominance amongst lemurs is when the females are sexually monomorphic and have priority access to food. Lemurs live in groups of 11 to 17 animals, where females tend to stay within their natal groups and the males migrate. Male lemurs are competitive to win their mates which causes instability among the other organisms. Lemurs are able to mark their territory by using scents from local areas.]
A number of lemur species are considered threatened; two species are critically endangered, one species is endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...
, and five species are rated as vulnerable.
Habitat
The highly seasonal dry deciduous forest of Madagascar alternates between dry and wet seasons, making it uniquely suitable for lemurs. Lemur species diversity increases as the number of tree species in an area increase and is also higher in forests that have been disturbed over undisturbed areas. Evidence from the Subfossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
records show that many of the now extinct lemurs actually lived in much drier climates than the currently extant lemurs.
References
External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q186462
Primate families
Lemurs
Taxa named by John Edward Gray
Taxa described in 1821