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Although the term lemur was first intended for slender lorises, it was soon limited to the endemic Malagasy primates, which have been known as collectively "lemurs" ever since. [6] The name lemur is derived from the Latin term lemures, [7] which refers to specters or ghosts that were exorcised during the Lemuria festival of ancient Rome.
The ring-tailed lemur was one of the first lemurs to be classified, by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.. Lemurs were first classified in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, and the taxonomy remains controversial today, with approximately 70 to 100 species and subspecies recognized, depending on how the term "species" is defined.
Lemur species diversity increases as the number of tree species in an area increase and is also higher in forests that have been disturbed over undisturbed areas. [12] Evidence from the Subfossil records show that many of the now extinct lemurs actually lived in much drier climates than the currently extant lemurs.
The indri is a vertical clinger and leaper and thus holds its body upright when traveling through trees or resting in branches. It has long, muscular legs which it uses to propel itself from trunk to trunk. Its large greenish eyes and black face are framed by round, fuzzy ears. Unlike any other living lemur, the indri has only a rudimentary tail.
Lemuriformes is the sole extant infraorder of primate that falls under the suborder Strepsirrhini.It includes the lemurs of Madagascar, as well as the galagos and lorisids of Africa and Asia, although a popular alternative taxonomy places the lorisoids in their own infraorder, Lorisiformes.
Sunda flying lemur. The two species of colugos make up the order Dermoptera. They are arboreal gliding mammals found in Southeast Asia. Family: Cynocephalidae (flying lemurs) Genus: Galeopterus. Sunda flying lemur, G. variegatus LC [5]
Palaeopropithecus primarily lived in the trees to stay away from predators as well as to gain valuable resources. To survive properly in the trees, Palaeopropithecus had long and powerful arms and legs, each with significantly long fingers and toes to allow them to hang upside down on branches. These were used to swing from branch to branch to ...
The fur of the true lemurs is long and usually reddish brown. Often, sexual dimorphism in coloration (sexual dichromatism) is seen, such as in the black lemur. True lemurs are from 30 to 50 cm (12 to 20 in) in length, with a tail that is as long or significantly longer than the body. They weigh from 2 to 4 kg (4 to 9 lb).