Mongoose Lemur
A female mongoose lemur sniffs a trumpet flower. Click image for larger version.
More than other lemurs, mongoose lemurs might be active at different times of the day depending on the time of year. Mongoose lemurs appear to be cathemeral (active at varying times, both day and night) throughout wet and the dry season. However, during the warm, wet months (December to April) there is considerably more diurnal and/or crepuscular (evening) activity. With the onset of the dry season in May, there is a shift towards nocturnal behavior and the lemurs eventually become most active at night. It is thought that this shift towards nocturnality during the dry, hot season helps the lemurs conserve energy by shifting their activity towards the coolest part of the day. Also, this is the season where there is the least forest cover, so being active at night might help the lemurs avoid detection by predators.
Vocalizations
Listen to recordings of the vocalizations of a mongoose lemur. All sounds are in wav format.
- Long grunt (28k)
- Scream (adult male) (16k)