The blue-eyed black lemur (''Eulemur flavifrons''), also known as the Sclater's lemur, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

true lemur True lemurs, also known as brown lemurs, are the lemurs in genus ''Eulemur''. They are medium-sized primates that live exclusively on Madagascar. The fur of the true lemurs is long and usually reddish brown. Often, sexual dimorphism in coloratio ...

. It can attain a body length of , a tail length of , a total length of , and a weight of . Being a

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

, it has strong hands with palms like a human, which have a rubbery texture to give it a firm grip on branches. Its tail is longer than its body and is non-prehensile. Like many of the

in the genus '' Eulemur'', the blue-eyed black lemur is sexually dichromatic. Males are solid black in color, with the hairs sometimes tinged brown at the roots. Females are reddish-brown in color with their underside and outline of their face a lighter tan. They have a dark brown or gray muzzle and the back of their hands and feet are a similar dark color. Both sexes have blue eyes, hence the common name, and are one of the only primates other than humans to consistently have blue eyes. The eyes can range in color from a shocking electric blue, a light sky-blue, or a softer gray-blue. Although the blue-eyed black lemur and the black lemur look similar, they can be differentiated by the blue eyes and lack of prominent ear tufts of this species, while the black lemur has orange-red eyes and long, spiky cheek hairs. In the Manongarivo Special reserve, where the range of the two species overlap, there is a report of hybridization between the two species, but the resulting offspring always have orange eyes. Until 2008, the blue-eyed black lemur was considered a subspecies, ''E. macaco flavifrons'', of the black lemur.

Behavior

This

has not been studied intensively in the wild, but it is known to be fairly social. Group sizes vary from four to eleven individuals on average. Females are dominant as in most lemur species, and there are usually more males than females in each social group. The blue-eyed black lemur is thought to be

polygynous Polygyny () is a form of polygamy entailing the marriage of a man to several women. The term polygyny is from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); . Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any other continent. Some scholar ...

. Females give birth to one or two offspring in June or July, after a gestation of 120 to 129 days. The young are weaned after about 5–6 months, and reach maturity at about 2 years of age. It may live between 15 and 30 years in captivity, with little data recorded on their longevity in the wild. It demonstrates a

cathemeral Cathemerality, sometimes called metaturnality, is an organismal activity pattern of irregular intervals during the day or night in which food is acquired, socializing with other organisms occurs, and any other activities necessary for livelihood ...

activity pattern, being awake sporadically throughout the day. The occasional nighttime activities are thought to be based on the intensity of the moonlight. The blue-eyed black lemur communicates with

scent-marking In ethology, territory is the sociographical area that an animal consistently defends against conspecificity, conspecific competition (biology), competition (or, occasionally, against animals of other species) using agonistic behaviors or (less ...

, vocalizations, and perhaps some facial expressions. Scent marking is an important means of communication as with most lemur species. Both genders will mark on trees with anogenital glands, while males will also mark using wrist and palm glands by rubbing and twisting them against leaves, twigs or branches. Males also use a scent gland on the top of their head to mark, lowering their head and rubbing in quick sliding motions.Duke Lemur Center
Little is known of its vocalizations, but it has been observed making a variety of grunts, chirps, barks and clicks. The males are known to make a sharp 'scree' when distressed. The blue-eyed black lemur has also been observed to be a highly aggressive species. There is frequent infighting between troop members, especially during the breeding and birthing seasons. In captivity it has been observed committing infanticide against other species of lemurs, a behavior that is usually uncommon, especially in captivity.

Diet

Fruit, pollen, and nectar make up the bulk of this lemur's diet. During the dry season when food is scarce it may eat leaves, seeds and berries and rarely insects. It may also raid farmlands and eat some of the crops, which may lead to it being shot by farmers. The blue-eyed black lemur helps propagate many rain forest plants. Since it digests the flesh but not the seeds of the fruits it eats, it spreads the seeds of more than 50 different plant species (deposited in a fresh pile of fertilizer), and some plants may have evolved specifically to be dispersed by this lemur. The blue-eyed black lemur also pollinates many plants while it eats nectar and pollen from the plants' flowers.

Habitat

The blue-eyed black lemur inhabits primary and secondary sub-tropical moist and dry forests in the northwestern tip of

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. Its range extends from the Andranomalaza River in the north, to the Maevarano River in the south. Some areas where it can readily be seen are in the forests south of Maromandia near

Antananarivo Antananarivo (Malagasy language, Malagasy: ; French language, French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known ...

and

Antsiranana Antsiranana ( ), named Diego-Suarez prior to 1975, is a city in the far north of Madagascar. Antsiranana is the capital of Diana Region. It had an estimated population of 115,015 in 2013. History At the beginning of the 16th century, a Portugue ...

. It may also be seen in the remaining forest patches of the Sahamalaza Peninsula, such as the Ankarafa forest.

Conservation

Humans have cut down almost all of this species' habitat to clear farm land. As a result, the blue-eyed black lemur is nearly extinct in the wild. The blue-eyed black lemur is listed on Appendix I of

CITES CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...

, and is

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

. As few as 1,000 individuals are thought to remain in the wild, largely due to slash and burn habitat destruction, as well as a mild threat from hunting problems.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q882366 True lemurs Endemic fauna of Madagascar Mammals of Madagascar Critically endangered fauna of Africa Mammals described in 1867 Taxa named by John Edward Gray Species that are or were threatened by slash-and-burn