Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The giant lemurs likely filled ecological niches now left vacant, particularly seed dispersal for plants with large seeds. There were three distinct families of giant lemur, including the Palaeopropithecidae (sloth lemurs), Megaladapidae (koala lemurs), and Archaeolemuridae (monkey lemurs).
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.
Pachylemur is an extinct, giant lemur most closely related to the ruffed lemurs of genus Varecia.Two species are known, Pachylemur insignis and Pachylemur jullyi, although there is some doubt as to whether or not they may actually be the same species.
However, Yale biologists who extracted DNA from the bones and teeth of 9 subfossil individuals from Palaeopropithecus state that all the giant lemurs analyzed died well over 1,000 years ago. Another thing they confirmed was that there is a close relationship between the sloth lemurs and currently living indrids.
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 17 December 2024. Extinct genus of lemurs Megaladapis Temporal range: Pleistocene - Holocene Megaladapis edwardsi skeleton Conservation status Extinct (1280–1420 CE) Scientific classification Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Primates Suborder: Strepsirrhini ...
The smaller, nocturnal lemurs, such as mouse lemurs, giant mouse lemurs, and dwarf lemurs, usually give birth to more than one infant, whereas the larger, nocturnal lemurs, such as fork-marked lemurs, sportive lemurs, and the aye-aye usually have one offspring. [29] Dwarf and mouse lemurs have up to four offspring, but both average only two.
The indri (/ ˈ ɪ n d r i / ⓘ; Indri indri), also called the babakoto, [8] is one of the largest living lemurs, with a head-body length of about 64–72 cm (25– 28 + 1 ⁄ 2 in) and a weight of between 6 and 9.5 kg (13 and 21 lb).
Archaeolemur is one of the most common and well-known of the extinct giant lemurs as hundreds of its bones have been discovered in fossil deposits across the island. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] It was larger than any extant lemur, with a body mass of approximately 18.2–26.5 kg (40–58 lb), and is commonly reconstructed as the most frugivorous and ...