18 Facts About Ring-tailed lemur

Ring-tailed lemur is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail.

Ring-tailed lemur is highly social, living in groups of up to 30 individuals.

Ring-tailed lemur is thought to share closer affinities to the bamboo lemurs of the genus Hapalemur than to the other two genera in its family.

Molecular analysis suggests that either the bamboo lemurs diverged from the ring-tailed lemur, making the group monophyletic and supporting the current two-genera taxonomy, or that the ring-tailed lemur is nested in with the bamboo lemurs, requiring Hapalemur simus to be split off into its own genus, Prolemur.

Unlike most diurnal primates, but like all strepsirrhine primates, the ring-tailed lemur has a tapetum lucidum, or reflective layer behind the retina of the eye, that enhances night vision.

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Skin of the ring-tailed lemur is dark gray or black in color, even in places where the fur is white.

Ring-tailed lemur has a dentition of ?×?2 = 36, meaning that on each side of the jaw it has two incisors, one canine tooth, three premolars, and three molar teeth.

Troops of the ring-tailed lemur will maintain a territory, but overlap is often high.

Ring-tailed lemur can be easily seen in five national parks in Madagascar: Andohahela National Park, Andringitra National Park, Isalo National Park, Tsimanampetsotse National Park, and Zombitse-Vohibasia National Park.

Historically, the species used to be sympatric with the critically endangered southern black-and-white ruffed Ring-tailed lemur, which was once found at Andringitra National Park; however, no sightings of the ruffed Ring-tailed lemur have been reported in recent years.

Ring-tailed lemur is an opportunistic omnivore primarily eating fruits and leaves, particularly those of the tamarind tree, known natively as kily.

The ring-tailed lemur eats from as many as three dozen different plant species, and its diet includes flowers, herbs, bark and sap.

The ring-tailed lemur will perform a handstand to mark vertical surfaces, grasping the highest point with its feet while it applies its scent.

Ring-tailed lemur is one of the most vocal primates and has a complex array of distinct vocalizations used to maintain group cohesion during foraging and alert group members to the presence of a predator.

Ring-tailed lemur is polygynandrous, although the dominant male in the troop typically breeds with more females than other males.

The ring-tailed lemur has been shown to learn a variety of complex tasks often equaling, if not exceeding, the performance of simians.

Ex situ facilities actively involved in the conservation of the ring-tailed lemur include the Duke Lemur Center in Durham, North Carolina, the Lemur Conservation Foundation in Myakka City, Florida, and the Madagascar Fauna Group headquartered at the Saint Louis Zoo.

The ring-tailed lemur was the focus of the 1996 Nature documentary A Lemur's Tale, which was filmed at the Berenty Reserve and followed a troop of lemurs.