Common brown lemur

Common brown lemur

Description

The common brown lemur is a medium-sized prosimian primate from Madagascar. Its body measures about 40 to 50 cm, with a bushy tail — used for balance — adding another 45 to 55 cm, and it weighs around 2 to 3 kg. The fur is brownish-grey with a paler belly and a dark face marked by striking orange eyes. Unlike many other lemurs, males and females look almost identical.

Habitat

It lives only on Madagascar, inhabiting tropical rainforests as well as dry deciduous forests in the north, west and east of the island. It spends most of its time high in the canopy, moving through the trees in fairly large, mixed groups. A small introduced population also survives on the nearby island of Mayotte.

Diet

It is mainly a frugivore, feeding above all on ripe fruit and supplementing it with leaves, flowers, buds and nectar. Occasionally it also eats bark, fungi or small insects, and licks soil to help neutralise plant toxins.

Reproduction

Breeding is seasonal, usually in spring. After a gestation of about 120 days the female gives birth to a single infant, rarely twins. The newborn first clings to its mother's belly, later riding on her back, and becomes independent within a few months.

Lifespan

In the wild it lives around 20 to 25 years. Under human care, protected from predators and given regular veterinary attention, it can live for more than 30 years.

Did you know?

The common brown lemur is cathemeral — active during both day and night. This unusual round-the-clock rhythm, rare among primates, lets it exploit food and avoid competitors and predators at any hour of the day.