LEMUR

Lemurs are mammals of the order Primates, divided into 8 families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are native only to the island of Madagascar. Most existing Lemurs are small, have a pointed snout, large eyes and a long tail. They chiefly live in trees and are active at night.

Lemurs share resemblance with other primates but evolved independently from monkeys and apes. Due to Madagascar's highly seasonal climate, Lemur evolution has produced a level of species diversity rivalling that of any other primate group. Until shortly after humans arrived on the island around 2,000 years ago, there were Lemurs as large as a male Gorilla. Most species have been discovered or promoted to full species status since the 1990s. However, Lemur taxonomic classification is still very controversial and depends on which ‘species concept’ is used.

Lemurs share many common basal primate traits, such as divergent digits on their hands and feet and nails instead of claws. However, their brain-to-body size ratio is smaller than that of other anthropoid primates. As with all strepsirrhine primates, they have a "wet nose". Lemurs are generally the most social of the strepsirrhine primates and communicate more with scents and vocalizations than with visual signals. Lemurs have a relatively low basal metabolic rate and as a result may exhibit dormancy such as hibernation or torpor. They also have seasonal breeding and female social dominance. Most Lemurs feed on a wide variety of fruits and leaves while some are specialists.

The name Lemur is derived from the Latin lemures which refers to spectres or ghosts that were exorcised during the Lemuria Festival of ancient Rome. Coming across Lemurs suddenly inside the forests may often be scary for the moment as their looks often resemble our popular misconceptions about apparitions.