By Matt Borths, Curator of the Duke Lemur Center’s Division of Fossil Primates. This Fossil Friday, meet a primate in your own family tree: Aegyptopithecus, whose name means “The Egyptian Monkey.” This 30-million-year-old face would make a great template for a jack o’ lantern! Aegyptopithecus was named by Elwyn Simons — the father of modern primate paleontology and […]
“Some plants in Madagascar may have evolved fruit colors so that they can be seen by lemurs that are red-green colorblind.” Super interesting article — and a Duke University researcher is featured too! Plants Can’t Talk. But Some Fruits Say ‘Eat Me’ to Animals. By JoAnna Klein. Originally published in the New York Times on October 9, 2018. Read […]
By Matt Borths, Curator of the Duke Lemur Center’s Division of Fossil Primates. Meet Megaladapis, a gorilla-sized lemur that would have moved like an enormous koala! This giant lemur only went extinct between 500 and 300 years ago. Some researchers think there are trees in Madagascar that are still around that relied on Megaladapis to […]
Originally published on the Duke Research blog on September 27, 2018. By Robin Smith. To digest his leafy diet, this sifaka gets a little help from the trillions of bacteria that inhabit his gut. Sifaka lemurs living at the Duke Lemur Center feed on a range of wild plants during warm months, such as fresh sumac, tulip […]
