The Bemaraha woolly lemur (''Avahi cleesei''), also known as Cleese's woolly lemur, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of woolly lemur native to western

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 Africa ...

, named after John Cleese. The first scientist to discover the species named it after Cleese, star of Monty Python, mainly because of Cleese's fondness for

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, as shown in '' Operation Lemur With John Cleese'' and '' Fierce Creatures'', and his efforts at protecting and preserving them. The species was first recorded in 1990 by a team of scientists from Zurich University led by Urs Thalmann, but wasn't formally described as a species until November 11, 2005. The

diurnal animal Diurnality is a form of plant and animal behavior characterized by activity during daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The common adjective used for daytime activity is "diurnal". The timing of activity by an animal d ...

weighs about , has brown skin with white regions on the rear and inside of the thighs and has a short damp nose, large plate eyes, and ears which hardly stand out from the skin. It typically has a strictly vegetarian diet of leaves and buds, living together in small families. The local population calls the species ''dadintsifaky'', which means "Grandfather of the

sifaka A sifaka (; ) is a lemur of the genus ''Propithecus'' from the family Indriidae within the order Primates. The name of their family is an onomatopoeia of their characteristic "shi-fak" alarm call. Like all lemurs, they are found only on the isl ...

", because it is similarly sized to sifakas, but more ponderous, heavyset and has ample greyish-brown fur. The habitat is limited to the Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve in western Madagascar, which is a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. The animal is probably threatened with becoming extinct in the long run, since the size of the population is unknown so far and its

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

shrinks continuously.

Description

It is found in Western Madagascar, near the village of Ambalarano. Its face is slightly more pale than its upper head, and the area above the nose extends to the forehead to contrast with the triangular pattern created by the forehead fur. The fur that borders the face is a black tone and forms a dark pattern in the shape of a line or stripe that resembles the letter "V". Its eyes are a maroon color with black eyelids, and the snout is black and hairless, while the corners of the mouth have a white tone. The fur on the head and body is a brown-gray color and has a slightly curled/freckled appearance. Its tail is beige or brownish-gray in color, and slightly red on the

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal c ...

side of the base. The surface color of the lower limbs of the species is white, while the chest, belly, and inner area of the upper limbs is a light gray color with relatively thin fur.

References

External links

BBC News report on the findingEndangered lemurs get Fawlty name

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1099688 Mammals described in 2005 Woolly lemurs fr:Avahi de Cleese