8 Things You Need to Know About Lemurs!

Lemurs are exceptionally strange creatures, with their huge, reflective eyes, long tails and somewhat human-like hands. While you may be most familiar with the ring-tailed lemur—they're the most common at zoos—there are a whole lot of the buggers you've probably never even seen before. Here are a few facts you'll definitely want to know about them.

1. They Come in Lots of Flavors

There are over fifty species and around one hundred subspecies of lemurs and the diversity of these animals is amazing. Some are nocturnal, some are diurnal. Some are antisocial, like the Aye aye, and others are highly social like the ring-tailed lemur "“who are so social they enjoy huddling together and forming what is known as a "lemur ball." Lemur sizes also vary between the one ounce pygmy mouse lemur and the 22 pound indri. There were even some larger species of lemurs weighing up to 530 pounds, but these became extinct after humans began settling on the island as early as 300 BC.
Today, most lemurs prefer to stay off the ground. The exception is the ring-tailed lemur, which spends a lot of time on the ground sunning itself. When on the ground, some lemurs prefer to hop on their back legs and others walk on all four feet. Interestingly, they can easily create hybrid lemurs and many species have crossbred while living in captivity.

2. They Love Their Mothers

If you liked the character of King Julien from Madagascar, you may be disappointed to learn that he's not completely realistic "“and not because of his wacky character design or erratic behavior. Lemur societies are almost all matriarchal. This isn't only rare amongst primates, but among mammals in general. The only other mammal to consistently demonstrate female dominance is the hyena.

The matriarchal society has left scientists scratching their heads. Because lemurs of both sexes are about the same size, they should be equally capable of fighting. So, why they are so strongly dominated by females? A recent theory introduced by Amy Dunham reasoned that the dominance comes down to the fact that females need more resources in order to birth and raise babies, and thus, they are willing to fight harder to get food and resources. Because fighting can be costly to the males, they may see it as beneficial to lie back and let the females take more of the resources.

3. They Occasionally Get Into "Stink Fights"

Lemurs, particularly the ring-tailed lemur, are big on talking. The ring-tailed lemur is the most vocal primate and uses its vocalizations to raise alarm. But screeching is by no means the only way these animals communicate. They also use their scent glands on their feet and butts to leave odors on areas they have been. Male ring-tailed lemurs even get in "stink fights" by rubbing their tails in their own scents and then shaking it at their opponent. The large, bushy tails of the lemurs can also be used for waving at one another from a long distance.

4. They Are NOT Evil

Aye ayes are some of the most unique species of lemurs. They're often compared to woodpeckers for their ability to penetrate wood in order to extract delicious bugs within "“only rather than using a beak, these guys use their long middle finger to pull out insects after gnawing a hole in the bark. Unfortunately, their distinctiveness has caused them quite a bit of trouble with suspicious natives. A large number of the Malagasy people believe they are an evil omen and a symbol of death. The belief is that when the Aye aye points its long middle finger at someone they've been marked for death. As a result, it is actively hunted (which may contribute to its extinction).

To make matters worse, the Aye aye seems to have very little fear of humans and has been known to walk right through villages "“suspicious villagers often say this means a villager will die unless the animal is murdered on the spot. The reality is that the Aye aye are little more than strange, antisocial creatures. While they aren't afraid of humans, they also won't do harm to them. They just want what any antisocial primate wants "“to be left alone.

5. They're Really, Really Smart

Lemurs are one of the more overlooked groups of primates. Humans tend to focus on apes and monkeys, but lemurs not only share our trait of opposable thumbs, they're also intelligent. Lemurs have the ability to learn patterns, and they even have object discrimination skills. They're also capable of learning tasks that are often too complex for apes and monkeys, like organizing sequences from memory and performing simple arithmetic. They can also be trained to use tools.

6. They Like to Travel by Raft

Lemurs only live on the African island of Madagascar. But how did they get there? Research shows the animals did not arrive on the island until after it broke off from the African continent. Scientists believe they rafted across the ocean on large clumps of vegetation. Evidence shows the African ancestors of lemurs were largely wiped out due to competition with other primates like monkeys and apes, however the Madagascar locals had none of this competition and thrived as a result. They did so well they were able to evolve into a plethora of different species.

7. You May Recognize Me From Such Fine Shows As"¦

Lemurs were largely underappreciated in pop culture until recently. PBS has a kid's show called Zoboomafoo based around a main lemur character of the same name. Lemur Street, known as Lemur Kingdom in the states, was a twenty episode serious based on two groups of ring-tailed lemurs in Madagascar "“it was to Meerkat Manor what Wife Swap was to Trading Spouses: different creatures, same concept. Even famed author William Burroughs took a shot at popularizing lemurs with his 1991 novella Ghost of Chance, where the main character discovers a utopia based around the protection of Madagascar land and the lemurs. And of course, there's the movie Madagascar, that certainly boosted their PR as well.

8. They Need Help

Images courtesy of Tambako's gorgeous Flickr page.