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Duke Lemur Center

7 hours ago

We're excited to welcome a new Coquerel's sifaka to the Duke Lemur Center... Say hello to Bertarido! 🤩

Bertarido spent the last 21 sunny years in California. He was born at the LA Zoo, spent a few years at the Sacramento Zoo, and most recently lived at the San Diego Zoo before transferring to the Duke Lemur Center last month. He was introduced to four-year-old Cornelia, and the pair bonded almost immediately, snacking on leaves side-by-side and grooming one another. Thus far, Bertarido seems to enjoy sunning himself in his screened-in outdoor patio and spending quality time with his new companion ☀️

➡️ lemur.duke.edu/wishlist

Want to send Bertarido a housewarming gift? You can send enrichment items and snacks for Bertarido and his neighbors to enjoy, as well as supplies (like gloves, zip ties, and scrubs) that help our husbandry team care for the nearly 250 lemurs that call the DLC home, by visiting our Amazon wishlist! ✨

📸: Keeper Leah (1,2,4); David Haring (3) ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

1 day ago

"There are still mysteries to solve," says Matt Borths. "Science isn't finished." 🔍

➡️ lemur.duke.edu/topernawi

In 2025, members of the DLC's Museum of Natural History team explored a new window into an ancient world, filled with previously unknown, extinct animals. DLCMNH Curator Matt Borths and Digital Collections Manager Kate Neely traveled across the globe to Topernawi, a site along the shores of Lake Turkana in northern Kenya where paleontologists recently unearthed a 29-million-year-old fossil. No mammalian fossils from anytime close to that had ever been discovered near Lake Turkana. In fact, no productive fossil site near the equator in Africa had ever been dated to this crucial window of time, when genetic and sparse fossil evidence suggests that apes originated. If paleontologists could find more fossils from this area, maybe they could piece together the environment that shaped our tail-less ancestors 🦴

➡️ lemur.duke.edu/podcast/a-busy-time-in-primate-evolution-spring-2026

You can learn more about the DLC's Topernawi adventure by reading Matt's article, published in the most recent edition of our annual magazine and available on our blog, or by listening to the newest episode of Aye-aye Pod, the DLC's official podcast, where Matt and co-host Megan McGrath break down details of the trip and what insight the team's discoveries could lend to the evolution of early primates ✨ ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

3 days ago

Afternoon mimosa leaves for Junius and family 🌿

Coquerel's sifakas like Francesca, Remus, and Junius are folivores, meaning their diet consists primarily of leaves. All of the sifakas at the DLC are fed fresh leaves daily, and our keepers have a wide selection of species to collect out in the Duke Forest! Mimosa leaves are an absolute favorite for many sifakas, but other popular picks include redbud, winged sumac, sweetgum, and tulip poplar 🍃

📸: David Haring ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

4 days ago

Meet Schwepps, a first-time dad and the sire of Liesl's two-month-old twins! 🥹

11-year-old Schwepps and his twin brother, Seagrams, were born at Busch Gardens in Tampa and moved to the Duke Lemur Center at the beginning of 2021. Last June, Schwepps was recommended for breeding with ring-tailed lemur female Liesl and moved in with her and her daughters. Schwepps has always been a very polite male, so he initially kept his distance from the females, but he eventually ingratiated himself within the troop (albeit at the bottom of the hierarchy, as the sole male) ✨

Since the twins' birth in March, Liesl's older daughter, Hedwig, has become very protective of her mom and new baby siblings. This means that Schwepps isn't allowed to get close to the females and infants, though he still hovers in the periphery to keep an eye on them. While this might sound sad to us humans, this is relatively common behavior in female-dominant lemur troops, and most ring-tailed lemur dads are notoriously uninvolved with infant care. Older siblings like Hedwig are much more hands-on, which prepares them to eventually become moms to their own infants. We expect to see much more interaction between Schwepps and the babies once they get a bit bigger and become more independent from mom! 😊

Schwepps' favorite activities include stink flirting with Liesl, scent-marking every single stick in the forest, and sun worshipping on warm summer afternoons ☀️

📸: Abby Flyer ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

6 days ago

Happy Mother's Day to primate moms of all species (including humans!) 💐

Did you know that 95% of lemur species are female dominant? Moms most often assume the role of dominant female in a group of lemurs, and the rest of the family will follow wherever mom roams. The dominant female gets first dibs on food, comfortable napping spots, and patches of sunlight, and the rest of the group will move to accommodate her 💖

📸: David Haring (sifaka mom Gisela with daughter Pomona, crowned lemur mom Tasherit with daughter Seshat, and blue-eyed black lemur mom Wiig with daughter Gellar) ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

1 week ago

Lemurs aren't the only endangered animals in Madagascar, so today we're happy to support #InternationalChameleonDay to highlight these incredible animals 🦎

➡️ wildlifemadagascar.org/news-and-stories/international-chameleon-day

There are 234 chameleon species on Earth, with almost 100 found exclusively on the island of Madagascar! About one third of chameleon species are threatened with extinction, thanks to factors such as habitat loss and climate change. Chameleons are nature's insect control and play an important role in maintaining healthy ecosystems. Just like lemurs, their extinction could have a drastic impact on the interconnected web of plants and animals that make up Madagascar's ecosystems 🌍

You can learn more about chameleons and how you can protect them through organizations like Wildlife Madagascar ✨

📸: Sara Sorraia ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

1 week ago

Happy Duke Graduation Weekend to the Class of 2026! 🎓

We are SOLD OUT and SO EXCITED to host hundreds of Duke students, parents, family, and friends over the next three days! 💙

📸: Bob Karp (1), Sara Nicholson (2,3) ... See MoreSee Less

Duke Lemur Center

1 week ago

This is a crowned lemur appreciation post 👑

Crowned lemurs are sexually dichromatic and named after the "crown" markings on their foreheads. This endangered species is the smallest in the Eulemur genus and the smallest diurnal species housed at the Duke Lemur Center. Crowned lemurs are the only species of lemur that will forage in the tsingy, an area of jagged limestone rock formations in northern Madagascar, and their small body size allows them to navigate terrain that is too treacherous for many predators to follow 😱

During breeding season, crowned lemurs are some of the stinkiest residents at the DLC, as males will rigorously scent mark their enclosures in an attempt to court females! They're also some of the most dedicated mutual groomers, as companions will hold one another's faces and meticulously run their tooth comb through their partner's fur 😊

📸: David Haring ... See MoreSee Less