Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The sloth lemurs (Palaeopropithecidae) comprise an extinct family of lemurs that includes four genera. [2] [3] The common name can be misleading, as members of Palaeopropithecidae were not closely related to sloths. This clade has been dubbed the ‘‘sloth lemurs’’ because of remarkable postcranial convergences with South American sloths. [4]
Archaeoindris fontoynontii is an extinct giant lemur and the largest primate known to have evolved on Madagascar, comparable in size to a male gorilla.It belonged to a family of extinct lemurs known as "sloth lemurs" (Palaeopropithecidae) and, because of its extremely large size, it has been compared to the ground sloths that once roamed North and South America.
Babakotia is an extinct genus of medium-sized lemur, or strepsirrhine primate, from Madagascar that contains a single species, Babakotia radofilai.Together with Palaeopropithecus, Archaeoindris, and Mesopropithecus, it forms the family Palaeopropithecidae, commonly known as the sloth lemurs.
Indriids, sportive lemurs, the aye-aye, and the extinct sloth lemurs, monkey lemurs, and koala lemurs have reduced dentitions, having lost incisors, canines, or premolars. [73] The ancestral deciduous dentition is 2.1.3 2.1.3, but young indriids, aye-ayes, koala lemurs, sloth lemurs, and probably monkey lemurs have fewer deciduous teeth. [56] [74]
Palaeopropithecus is a recently extinct genus of large sloth lemurs from Madagascar related to living lemur species found there today. Three species are known, Palaeopropithecus ingens, P. maximus, and P. kelyus. Radiocarbon dates indicate that they may have survived until around 1300–1620 CE.
The largest known subfossil lemur was Archaeoindris fontoynonti, a giant sloth lemur, which weighed more than a modern female gorilla. The extinction of the largest lemurs is often attributed to predation by humans and possibly habitat destruction . [ 2 ]
The baby sloth, named Buttercup, was nursed back to health under the couple’s care. Her survival marked the beginning of the Sloth Sanctuary. Over time, word spread, and more sloths in need arrived.
The sloth lemurs (family Palaeopropithecidae) were the most species-rich group of the subfossil lemurs, with four genera and eight species. The common name is due to strong similarities in morphology with arboreal sloths, [ 9 ] or in the case of Archaeoindris , with giant ground sloths. [ 12 ]