40 Fun Facts About Ring-Tailed Lemur

What are the contests called in which male ring-tailed lemurs wave scent-soaked tails at rivals?

Stink fighting sees two males pull their tails through scent glands, then flick the smelly fur at each other. The stand-off ends when one of them backs down and runs.

Why do ring-tailed lemurs sit upright each morning with palms open and chests turned toward the sun?

Ring-tailed lemurs sunbathe to warm up after chilly nights, soaking up heat through the thinner fur on their undersides. The pose is nicknamed sun worshipping.

Which members of a ring-tailed lemur troop outrank all the others and get first pick of the food?

The adult females dominate every male in the troop, an arrangement that is rare among primates. They enforce their rank by lunging, chasing, cuffing and biting.

Which ring-tailed lemur sings the party anthem I Like to Move It in the 2005 film Madagascar?

King Julien's version is a cover of a 1990s dance hit by Reel 2 Real. The tune went on to become the theme song of the whole franchise.

Which gymnastic move does a ring-tailed lemur perform to leave its scent high up on a tree trunk?

A handstand lets the lemur grip the trunk with its feet and press its rear scent glands against the bark. Both sexes mark this way where the ranges of neighbouring troops overlap.

Wild ring-tailed lemurs live only on Madagascar, an island off the southeast coast of which continent?

Africa sits across the Mozambique Channel from Madagascar, the world's fourth-largest island. Lemurs evolved on the island in isolation and are native nowhere else.

Where does the ring-tailed lemur spend more of its time than any other living lemur species?

On the ground is where a ring-tailed lemur troop does most of its travelling, strolling along on all fours. The animals are still agile climbers and spend plenty of time in the canopy.

The ring-tailed lemur's genus name, Lemur, comes from an ancient Roman word for which supernatural beings?

Ghosts called lemures were driven out of Roman homes during a yearly festival, the Lemuria. The name was first given to slow-moving lorises, then passed to Madagascar's primates.

The ring-tailed lemur's fur is so thick and dense that it can clog which piece of equipment?

Electric clippers can jam in the plush coat. The skin underneath is dark all over, even in the places where the fur on top is white.

How are the ring-tailed lemur's ancestors thought to have crossed the sea to Madagascar millions of years ago?

On floating vegetation, a small group of early lemurs is thought to have drifted to the island by accident. Every living lemur species is believed to descend from those castaways.

Part of the ring-tailed lemur's scientific name points to a likeness to which familiar animal?

A cat is what the name catta points to. English writers first called the animal a ring-tailed maucauco; the modern name only appeared in the 1790s.

Whatever the pattern of rings above it, a ring-tailed lemur's tail always ends in a tip of which colour?

Black always finishes the tail, which carries about a dozen dark rings and a dozen white ones. The total roughly matches the number of bones inside the tail.

Since a ring-tailed lemur's tail cannot grasp, what does the animal mainly use it for besides signalling?

Balance is the tail's main job when a lemur runs along branches, since it cannot curl around them like a prehensile monkey tail. It is also longer than the animal's head and body combined.

Which tree, known in Madagascar as kily, can provide half of a ring-tailed lemur's diet in the dry season?

Tamarind fruit and leaves are the lemur's staple, especially through the lean winter months. The animals feed on up to three dozen plant species in all.

Which sleek carnivore, the largest native to Madagascar, is a leading predator of the ring-tailed lemur?

The fossa has been compared to a small cougar, and lemurs make up more than half of its diet. Hawks, buzzards and boas also hunt the ring-tailed lemur.

In 2014 the IUCN Red List placed the wild ring-tailed lemur in which threat category?

Endangered status reflects shrinking forests, hunting and the pet trade. The species still breeds so readily in captivity that it is the most common lemur in the world's zoos.

What is the main job of the row of fine, forward-pointing lower front teeth in a ring-tailed lemur's jaw?

Grooming fur with this toothcomb keeps a lemur clean and strengthens bonds within the troop. A thin, fibrous plate under the tongue then cleans the comb itself.

On which digit does a ring-tailed lemur carry its toilet-claw, a special claw for raking through its coat?

The second toe of each foot bears the claw, while the lemur's fingers end in flat nails much like a human's. Nearly all lemurs and lorises share the feature.

Only male ring-tailed lemurs grow a horny spur over a scent gland on which part of the body?

The wrist spur is scraped against tree trunks to cut grooves that hold the male's scent. The behaviour is known as spur-marking.

The reflective layer behind a ring-tailed lemur's retina, which makes its eyes shine, improves which ability?

Night vision gets a boost from the layer, called the tapetum lucidum, which bounces light back through the retina. Human eyes have no such layer.

The ring-tailed lemur is a strepsirrhine, a primate group informally named for which shared feature?

Wet noses, like those of dogs, mark out the lemurs and lorises from monkeys and apes. The moist patch of skin even runs down to split the upper lip.

Because its upper lip is fixed to the jaw, how must a ring-tailed lemur take in water?

By lapping it with the tongue, the lemur gets around a lip that cannot be pushed forward to suck. One reserve in Madagascar sets out troughs to help troops through droughts.

Which soft sound does a ring-tailed lemur make to show that it is content?

A purr is one of the simplest calls in a large repertoire that also includes moans, wails, clicks and yaps. Ring-tailed lemurs are among the most vocal of all primates.

Genetic studies suggest the ring-tailed lemur's closest relatives are which members of the genus Hapalemur?

Bamboo lemurs share forearm scent glands with the ring-tailed lemur, a clue that backed up the DNA evidence. Unlike their long-nosed cousin, they have short snouts.

Which naturalist gave the ring-tailed lemur its scientific name in the 1758 edition of his Systema Naturae?

Carl Linnaeus put three animals in his new genus, yet only the ring-tailed lemur is still called a lemur. The other two turned out to be a loris and a gliding colugo.

By which Malagasy name, borrowed by an Indian Ocean clothing brand, is the ring-tailed lemur known locally?

Maky is the everyday Malagasy word for the animal, written maki in French. The Maki clothing label took the name, though its logo actually shows the face of a different lemur.

Which primatologist, famed for ring-tailed lemur research, began fieldwork at Berenty Reserve in 1963?

Alison Jolly did most of her fieldwork there and later told the reserve's story in her book Lords and Lemurs. She also wrote the Ako series of children's books.

Where on its mother does a newborn ring-tailed lemur cling before it is old enough to ride on her back?

Her belly is the infant's first perch, and after a couple of weeks it climbs round to ride jockey-style. Every member of the troop may help to look after the youngster.

Which Monty Python star acted beside a ring-tailed lemur in Fierce Creatures and hosted Operation Lemur?

John Cleese gave the takings from the film's London premiere to a project returning ruffed lemurs to the wild. His 1998 documentary followed their release in Madagascar.

The ring-tailed lemur was chosen as the symbol of the organisation that runs which of Madagascar's assets?

National parks across the island carry the lemur's image because it is Madagascar's most widely recognised native primate. The agency was formerly known as ANGAP.

Which practice, known in Madagascar as tavy, destroys forest that the ring-tailed lemur depends on?

Slash-and-burn clearing means cutting down trees and brush, then setting them alight to open up land, often for rice. Smoke from the fires hangs on the horizon on most days in Madagascar.

Which university in Durham, North Carolina, runs a lemur center where ring-tailed lemurs memorised sequences?

Duke University keeps the most diverse collection of lemurs outside Madagascar. Tests there showed ring-tailed lemurs recalling ordered lists from memory, without language.

A colony of ring-tailed lemurs has roamed free since 1985 on St. Catherines Island, off which US state?

Georgia's St. Catherines Island received six ring-tailed lemurs from a New York zoo society's breeding programme. The colony grew to dozens of animals that range freely over the island.

Ring-tailed lemurs have been seen eating earth taken from the mounds built by which insects?

Termites build the mounds, and their earth is not the only odd item on the menu: the lemurs have also been seen eating rotten wood, spider webs and insect cocoons.

Ring-tailed lemurs strongly favour gallery forests, which grow in strips along which landscape feature?

Riverbanks support far denser lemur populations than the dry forest around them. Much of this gallery forest has been cleared to make pasture for livestock.

Why do ring-tailed lemurs hold their tails straight up like flags when a troop is on the move?

To stay together, the lemurs follow the upright tails of those walking ahead. Constant calling between troop members does the same job.

Which British comedian voiced the party-loving ring-tailed lemur in the 2005 film Madagascar?

Sacha Baron Cohen improvised an Indian accent and eight minutes of dialogue at his audition. The part had been planned as a minor character with only two lines.

How do the members of a ring-tailed lemur troop get through cold nights once they split into sleeping parties?

Ring-tailed lemurs huddle up closely to share body heat, and the habit also reaffirms the bonds between troop members. Parts of their mountain range can fall well below freezing.

Tests at the Myakka City Lemur Reserve suggest ring-tailed lemurs can grasp simple forms of which skill?

Arithmetic was not the only surprise: the same reserve found that the lemurs pick tools by how well they work, not by colour or texture. Wild lemurs are not known to use tools at all.

In which part of Madagascar are wild ring-tailed lemurs found, among dry scrub and spiny forest?

The south and south-west of the island are among its hottest and driest regions. Ring-tailed lemurs there cope with temperatures that can climb to 48 °C in the spiny forest.