Tag Archives: lemur

You’ve shared an exotic pet video. Now what?

Maybe you’ve come across this because you were hoping to get a pet tiger/lion/monkey/ape/or some other strange exotic animal or perhaps someone posted this link because you shared a video or photo of one of these animals being kept as a pet. But why do some people have a problem with that? Why is it dangerous to simply say “Aww! It’s so cute!! I want one!”? Here are the top 3 dangers to sharing videos of exotic animals in unnatural settings (like living rooms): Continue reading You’ve shared an exotic pet video. Now what?

Daubentoniidae

Well, I personally think daubentoniidae this is the most difficult family to memorize, and I don’t quite know why. This family is really unique and contains only one species: the Aye-Aye. These weird little lemurs are the only species left of the daubentoniids after the other went extinct about 1,000 years ago. Continue reading Daubentoniidae

Megaladapidae

Megaladapidae is one of the families of primates that is often argued over by taxonomists. Everyone has an opinion in taxonomy. I have decided to put it as a separate family because honestly, sportive lemurs are pretty cool. Megaladapids were said to be extinct because the taxonomic group originally covered all of the giant lemurs the size of gorillas that use to roam Madagascar. But like most megafauna, it was killed off by humans.

Sportive lemur by Flickr user NH53
Sportive lemur by Flickr user NH53

Continue reading Megaladapidae

Indriidae

Primates in the family Indriidae are also found on the island of Madagascar, but these primates are a bit different from the lemurs we have been talking about so far. The species included in the family indriidae are indris, sifakas, and woolly lemurs. Although I said they were different they still share several commonalities like the fact that indriids are not monkeys, but also lemurs, they are also strepsirrhines who have wet noses, and are diurnal.

Verreaux's Sifaka by Woodlouse on Flickr
Verreaux’s Sifaka by Woodlouse on Flickr

Continue reading Indriidae

Lemuridae

Lemuridae is another large family of primates, just like cercopithecidae, as it includes most species of lemur. I mentioned in my last primate families post that all lemurs are found on the island of Madagascar, but something that differs from the cheirogaleidae is that lemurids are diurnal. Diurnal means that they spend most of their time awake during the daylight hours.

Ring-tailed lemurs by Mark Abel
Ring-tailed lemurs by Mark Abel

Continue reading Lemuridae

primatologist bio: mayor

Mireya Mayor discovered the smallest primate species before the age of 30, she has swum with giant squids, great whites, followed in the footsteps of Henry Morton Stanley during his expedition down the Congo River, been in a plane crash, chased by elephants and trekked to the most remote corners of the globe. She is a primatologist, and more importantly she is an explorer.mayor-resting

Continue reading primatologist bio: mayor

leaping lemurs

Leaping lemurs! Did you know that lemurs are the most threatened mammals in the world? They are so unique and so important in our evolutionary chain. Lemurs are a type of primate found only on the island country of Madagascar, and no, they are not monkeys. They are prosimians and they need protecting! Luckily researchers are putting their foot down and making firm plans to save these incredible animals.

Photo From WWF
Photo From WWF

Continue reading leaping lemurs

odd animal profile: sunda flying lemur

It’s not a lemur, and it doesn’t fly, so the name is a little misleading. But I bet you’ve never heard of it before! This little gliding animal is pretty rare and in fact, there’s not much known about them. They’re not a new species, people just don’t seem to concerned with learning more about this fuzzy little creature.

Sunda Colugo  or Sunda Flying Lemur feeding

Continue reading odd animal profile: sunda flying lemur

anth 3302

The second semester of my freshman year of college I was desperate to transfer. I wasn’t a huge fan of the social scene and I would do anything to get out of Texas. I had planned to go abroad for a year to Costa Rica to live at a research station in Monte Verde Cloud Forest. I was leaning away from studying medicine and changing my major to biology and journalism. I wanted to study animals and write about them! What kinds of animals? Well, I just wasn’t so sure yet.

Photo by me of a lemur at the Dallas Zoo I took for my monograph
Photo by me of a lemur at the Dallas Zoo I took for my monograph

Continue reading anth 3302