Ringtailed Lemur
Rachna Reddy: Lemur Voice Coach
For the past four years our research team has investigated lemur cognitive abilities. Adapted to unique niches in Madagascar, lemur species differ considerably in sociality, foraging patterns, and other characteristics that may have caused them to evolve different problem-solving skills. We test these skills through interactive experiments, that may require lemurs to use social cues...
Student Research at the DLC
One of the big projects that students do at Durham Academy is their 8th grade Independent Science Project. There are often a lot of interesting and fun topics, such as whether people do better on tests after exercise, if artificial sweeteners taste different than natural sugars in lemonade, and what ingredients make chocolate chip cookie...
Oh yeah? Smell this! or, Conflict resolution, lemur-style
Like most animals, lemurs compete with each other for scarce resources such as territory, food and reproductive mates. While sometimes this type of squabble is resolved by fighting, sharp teeth and claws can result in serious injuries to one or both participants. Ringtail lemurs live in large social groups of 20 – 30 individuals in...
Ring-tailed lemur behavioral bioassay
We’re at the Duke Lemur Center, and we have lengths of dowel, duct tape, grape jelly and two bags of craisins. Guess what’s going to happen next? Some construction? A fat-free picnic? A food fight? Well, no … actually we are with Katie Grogan, a Duke graduate student, who is going to use this equipment (and...
“Bad boy” lemur makes good-Aracus, a ring-tailed lemur “wins” research award
The following is the 2nd of two tributes written by Duke Lemur Center’s Research Manager, Sarah Zehr, Ph.D. All research at the Duke Lemur Center is non-invasive. If the lemurs are even stressed by the research activity, they do NOT have to participate. After a very productive research year, Dr. Zehr picked two lemurs, who...
Overview
Ringtailed lemurs (Lemur catta) are the most intensely studied of all the lemurs: they are also the most easily recognizable lemur and the most common in captivity. They are also the most terrestrial of all the lemurs. Although widely distributed throughout the dry forests of southwestern Madagascar (some of the hottest, driest and least hospitable...
Feeding
Their diet consists of fruit, leaves, flowers, bark, sap and the occasional invertebrate. Due to the fact that vegetation in forests inhabited by these lemurs is sparse and non-continuous, they are often found traveling on the ground. As an adaptation to survival in a harsh climate, the ringtails range far and feed from a wide...
Fact Sheet
Order: Primates; Suborder: Prosimii Family: Lemuridae; Genus: Lemur Species: catta Related Species Ring-tailed lemurs are currently classified in their own genus, but there is considerable debate about their relatedness to the members of the genera Eulemur and Hapalemur. Key Facts Adult Size : 4.9 – 6 pounds Social life : Sociable, group sizes of 3...
Reproduction
Ringtailed females usually give birth first at three years of age and produce offspring annually thereafter. In the wild, mating begins in mid-April with infants born in August and September. Single infants are most common, but twins are a frequent sight in ringtail troops when food is plentiful. Initially, infants cling to their mother’s bellies,...
Social Behavior
Ringtail groups are larger than any other lemur group, containing up to 24 animals (the DLC has two large free-ranging groups of these animals, each containing about ten individuals). There is a well-defined hierarchy within the group. Females are dominant over all males with the alpha female forming the focal point for the group as...
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