Madagascar Relived

Hello all, and today's report is on the ring-tailed lemur. Very prehensile and we know little about this animal, but nontheless, I have decided to bring to you a report about it, and because someone suggested it to me.

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Primates

Family: Lemuridae

Genus: Lemur

Species: Lemur catta

What's So Special About Them?

The ring tailed lemur is one of the many variants of the lemur family, found only on the isolated island of Madagascar. Madagascar is off the east coast of Africa. Having broken off from Africa during the shift of the continents, like Australia, Madagascar had its own evolution and developed animals like no other. This is why the lemur is one of the most severly threatened species walking this planet, just because it evolved differently. Ring tailed lemurs are prehensile with their hands and tail, able to grab and open things, like many primates. They can hang from their tails and also have a strange, chilling cry.

Why Were They Named Something So Weird?

Well, Lemurs is Latin for "spirits of the dead". Shades were called lemurs, and because of their strange cry, settlers thought it was the dead yelling for revenge. And so, the name has stayed throughout the centuries, making the lemur special and like no animal that has every graced this earth. Like a hyena laughing, a lemur yodel isn't very enjoyable, especially when you're camping out in the Madagascar dark, not knowing what surrounds you... Look at this lemur here. She's a new mom, carrying her baby twins. Now isn't that sweet. This photo comes from Wikipedia.

About Lemurs in General

Named after the spirits of the dead because of their cries, lemurs are very shy and that's why we can't study them unless they're in captivity. They dodge every single thing, including their own mates if they are far away. I wanted to post more pictures, but I couldn't find any. I couldn't find any videos either. It's our OBLIGATION to protect these animals because we are the ones that are destroying the world. I hope that this changed your mind about recycling more and being more economical. Stay tuned for another report tomorrow, sharpish! :o)