Lemur

Lemurs
Ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) carrying twins
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Strepsirrhini
Infraorder:	Lemuriformes Gray, 1821
Superfamilies
Cheirogaleoidea Lemuroidea

Lemurs are primates and prosimians (not monkeys). The word "lemur" comes from the Latin word lemures, which means "ghosts". Lemur are divided into eight families, with 15 genera and about 100 living species. However, lemur classification is controversial: it depends on which species concept is used. Lemur is also a genus in one of the families.^[1]

Lemurs are native only to the island of Madagascar. From there a few species got to smaller islands nearby, for example the Comoros. Madagascar, like Africa and India, was part of the ancient southern continent of Gondwana.^[2]

Lemurs weigh from 30g to the 10kg. Larger species have all become extinct since human groups moved to Madagascar. Usually, the smaller lemurs are active at night (nocturnal), and the larger ones were active during the day (diurnal).

Lemurs are endangered species because people destroy their habitat and used to hunt them, and perhaps still do so.

1. ↑ Garbutt N. 2007. Mammals of Madagascar: a complete guide. A&C Black Publishers. ISBN 978-0-300-12550-4
2. ↑ Goodman S.M. & Benstead, J.P. (eds) 2003. The Natural History of Madagascar. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-30306-2