By Matt Borths, Curator of the Duke Lemur Center’s Division of Fossil Primates. Meet Archaeolemur, a baboon-sized giant lemur that went extinct in Madagascar between 1,000 and 300 years ago! The fossils of giant lemurs are often found in caves. On the right is the upper leg bone of this Archaelemur as it was found in […]
By Matt Borths, Curator of the Duke Lemur Center’s Division of Fossil Primates. Happy Halloween from the DLC’s Division of Fossil Primates! These bats flew over the heads of extinct giant lemurs and elephant birds! Skulls, skeletons, monsters, and the bringing of things back from the dead? Every day is Halloween for a paleontologist!
“One of my favorite lemurs is this extinct giant lemur called Paleopropithecus. It’s a relative of sifakas, but it’s built in a completely different way. These animals are nicknamed sloth lemurs because they have these long limbs and claws that let them move under tree branches in Madagascar. But my favorite feature is their round, […]
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 […]
