Photo: (c) George Williams, some rights reserved (CC BY) — via iNaturalist
Ring-tailed Lemur
Lemur catta
Lives in social troops, sunbathing on the forest floor each morning.
About the Ring-tailed Lemur
The ring-tailed lemur is the most recognisable of Madagascar's lemurs and the one most likely to be on the ground. Its black and white ringed tail is longer than its body and is held upright as a flag while the troop moves through open terrain, which is how a group keeps together in scrub and among rocks.
How it lives
Ring-tails live in troops led by females — female dominance is the norm across lemurs and unusual among primates generally. They eat fruit, leaves, flowers and the occasional insect, and they spend a great deal of time sunbathing in a cross-legged posture with the pale belly turned to the morning sun. Males compete in stink fights, coating their tails with secretions from wrist and shoulder glands and wafting them at rivals, a contest that can go on for well over an hour and settles rank without injury.
Where it lives
Lives in social troops, sunbathing on the forest floor each morning. Its main habitat is Madagascar, where the climate is tropical and warm with distinct wet and dry seasons.
Notable facts
- Found in the wild only on Madagascar.
- Its tail has 13 black and 13 white rings.
- Troops are led by a dominant female.
Conservation
IUCN Red List status: Endangered. Facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
Ring-tailed lemurs are endangered and have declined very sharply, with the wild population now far smaller than the number held in zoos worldwide. Their dry forest and spiny bush habitat is being cleared for charcoal, cattle grazing and agriculture, and the species is hunted for meat and taken live for the domestic pet and tourist trade. Their remaining range is fragmented into small, isolated blocks.
Read the Wikipedia article →
