Thrasher, a 12-year-old fat-tailed dwarf lemur, proudly displays his beautiful thick tail — evidence that the DLC’s mouse and dwarf lemurs have begun entering the initial phases of their yearly period of torpor! If Thrasher were a wild lemur living in Madagascar, the fat stored in his tail would help him survive the cool dry […]
Today is our first Fossil Friday, courtesy of Matt Borths, our new Curator of the DLC’s Division of Fossil Primates! This week we’re featuring… ELEPHANT BIRDS! A new species of elephant bird was announced this week: https://www.livescience.com/63675-worlds-largest-bird-is-vo…. Only a few hundred years ago, Madagascar was home to the largest bird ever known: Vorombe titan! This new genus […]
New paper out on the sifaka gut microbiome and metabolome relative to the quality of dietary foliage, using non-invasive research done right here at the Duke Lemur Center! Read the full article here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-32759-7. For a great introduction to the gut microbiome, why it’s critical for lemurs’ health, and the practical use and benefits of the […]
This summer, we were extremely fortunate to have two outstanding undergrad student photographers on staff — including Patrick Ross, a work-study student in the Education Department (he was an amazing tour guide) and a member of our research team! A senior at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, Patrick left this August to study abroad […]
One of our volunteer Technician Assistants suggested recently that we add a “Staff Spotlight” to the DLC’s monthly volunteer newsletter. We loved the idea so much that we’ve expanded it into monthly blog posts as well! Many friends of the DLC know us in passing, but may not know what led us to our careers or what […]
Attention high school teachers: We’re excited to share with everyone a free educational resource from Science Friday that the Duke Lemur Center veterinary team helped make a reality! Check out x-rays of some of our lemurs’ hands (including an aye-aye and a sifaka!) while learning about the mathematical patterns in their fingers: http://sciencefriday.com/fibonacci.
It’s been a drizzly Friday at the DLC, but thankfully not much more than that from Hurricane Florence so far! The winds have been off and on and have become more steady this afternoon. There are small branches down on Lemur Lane and around the DLC but nothing damaging. And as usual, our world-class animal care […]
A stunning discovery in Madagascar: Subfossilized elephant bird bones with what appears to be scarring from butchering by humans have been discovered in the southern part of the country. The bones appear to be approximately 10,000 years old, which would push first human arrival estimates back thousands of years earlier than previously thought! That is […]
