Q 01/05

The name sifaka, used by the people of Madagascar for these leaping lemurs, imitates which thing?

A) Their warning cry

B) Their landing thud

C) Their chewing sound

D) Their infants' squeal

Answer · why

A) Their warning cry

Their warning cry is an explosive, hissing shi-fak, repeated several times when danger appears on the ground. The dry-forest species make it; their ra...

Q 02/05

Which PBS Kids series, first shown in 1999, had a leaping Coquerel's sifaka as its talking title character?

A) Wishbone

B) Zoboomafoo

C) Dragon Tales

D) Reading Rainbow

Answer · why

B) Zoboomafoo

Zoboomafoo mixed footage of a real sifaka with a talking puppet and ran for 65 episodes. The show is credited with teaching millions of children what ...

Q 03/05

When the trees are too far apart, sifakas come down and cross open ground in which unusual way?

A) Running on all fours

B) Walking on their knuckles

C) Hopping sideways upright

D) Crawling flat on their bellies

Answer · why

C) Hopping sideways upright

Hopping sideways upright, with arms waving for balance, has earned sifakas the nickname dancing lemurs. They can cross more than 100 metres of open gr...

Q 04/05

Which cat-like carnivore, found only on Madagascar, preys on sifakas and takes many of their infants?

A) Genet

B) Binturong

C) Linsang

D) Fossa

Answer · why

D) Fossa

Fossa attacks kill about 30% of infant Verreaux's sifakas. It is the only predator able to take adults of every living lemur species.

Q 05/05

Which members of a sifaka group are dominant, eating first and even smacking those who get in the way?

A) The males

B) The eldest pair

C) The females

D) The newcomers

Answer · why

C) The females

The females take the best feeding spots while the males wait their turn. Such matriarchy is rare in the animal kingdom as a whole but common among lem...