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Ring-Tailed Lemur
(Lemur catta)

Ring-Tailed lemurHabitat: brush and scrub forests
Range:  South and Southwestern Madagascar
Natural Diet: fruit, flowers, nectar, leaves, and buds

Status In The Wild:  

Atlas

Fun Animal Facts

Ring-tailed lemurs are the only species of lemur to have scent glands on their wrists. The glands are used to mark their territory and in "stink fight" in which opponents rub their tails on the glands and wave the scented tail. Their ringed tails are used as "follow me" flags. Madagascar natives once believed that lemurs worshipped the sun because they can be seen sunbathing on a branch or log.

Many lemur species have become extinct. All lemurs are endangered, suffering from habitat loss as forests are converted to farmland or selectively logged. Heavily hunted and trapped by the Malagasy people as a food source, lemurs share their precarious status with many plants and animal species unique to Madagascar.