Von der Decken's sifaka (''Propithecus deckenii'') is a

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

lemur Lemurs ( ; from Latin ) are Strepsirrhini, wet-nosed primates of the Superfamily (biology), superfamily Lemuroidea ( ), divided into 8 Family (biology), families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are Endemism, ...

that is endemic to the arid,

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

and spiny succulent forests of Western

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 ...

. It has a length of 92 to 107 centimeters, of which 42-48 centimeters are tail. The species is named in honor of the German explorer

Karl Klaus von der Decken Baron Karl Klaus (Carl Claus) von der Decken (born 8 August 1833 in Kotzen, Brandenburg, Germany; died 2 October 1865 near Bardera, Somalia) was a German explorer of eastern Africa and the first European to attempt to climb Mount Kilimanjar ...

. Its pelage is usually creamy white, with tinges of yellow-gold, silver-grey or pale brown on the neck, shoulders, back and limbs. The face is entirely black. Group size is between two and ten individuals, with groups of three to six being the most common. The IUCN lists its status as critically endangered, and it is listed in

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 ...

Appendix I. File:Propithecus deckenii1.jpg File:Propithecus deckenii - profile - Tsingy.jpg File:Propithecus deckenii2.jpg

References

Sifakas Mammals described in 1867 Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters {{lemur-stub