How do ring tailed lemurs move

Lemurs are primates found only on the African island of Madagascar and some tiny neighboring islands. Because of its geographic isolation, Madagascar is home to many amazing animals found nowhere else on Earth. Ring-tailed lemurs are unmistakable because of their long, vividly striped, black-and-white tail. They are familiar residents of many zoos.

Lemurs use their hands and feet to move nimbly through the trees, but cannot grip with their tails as some of their primate cousins do. Ring-tailed lemurs also spend a lot of time on the ground, which is unusual among lemur species. They forage for fruit, which makes up the greater part of their diet, but also eat leaves, flowers, tree bark, and sap. Ring-tailed lemurs have powerful scent glands and use their unique odor as a communication tool and even as a kind of weapon.

Lemurs mark their territory by scent, serving notice of their presence to all who can smell. During mating season, male lemurs battle for dominance by trying to outstink each other. They cover their long tails with smelly secretions and wave them in the air to determine which animal is more powerful.

Ring-tailed lemurs live in groups known as troops. These groups may include 6 to 30 animals, but average about Unlike most other lemurs, ringtails spend 40 percent of their time on the ground.

They move quadrupedally along the forest floor. The average body mass for adult males is 6 pounds 3 kilograms. Females are usually smaller. Their tails can be up to 2 feet long 61 centimeters. Ring-tailed lemurs live in southwestern Madagascar, in arid, open areas and forests in territories that range from 15 to 57 acres 0. As with all lemurs, olfactory communication is important for ringtails.

Ring-tailed lemurs have scent glands on their wrists and chests that they use to mark their foraging routes. Males even have a horny spur on each wrist gland that they use to pierce tree branches before scent marking them. Secretions from the wrist glands can also be rubbed on the tail and flicked at an opponent. Ring-tailed lemurs communicate visually in a number of ways as well. When ring-tailed troops travel throughout their home range, they keep their tails raised in the air, like flags, to keep group members together.

They also communicate using facial expressions:. Ring-tailed lemurs are one of the most vocal primates. They have several different alarm calls to alert members of their group to potential danger:. At the Smithsonian's National Zoo, they are fed a mixture of fruits, vegetables and leaf-eater biscuits multiple times a day. Ring-tailed lemurs live found in social groups ranging in size from three to 25 individuals.

The groups include multiple males and females. Females spend their whole lives in their birth group. Generally males change groups when they reach sexual maturity at age three. Ring-tailed groups range over a considerable area each day in search of food, up to 3. All group members use this common home range, and groups are often aggressive towards other groups at the borders of these areas. Females are dominant within groups, meaning females have preferential access to food and choice of whom to mate with.

This is unusual in the primate world. Males do have a dominance hierarchy, though even low-ranking males are able to mate. The hierarchy among ring-tailed lemur females is not linear, and daughters do not always assume the rank of their mothers. They have nails on their hands and feet with the exception of their second toe. Ring-tailed lemurs are diurnal, meaning they are most active during the day. They are the most terrestrial species of lemur, though they frequently spend time feeding, traveling, and sleeping in trees.

These lemurs primarily move around quadrupedally on all four limbs both on the ground and in trees. They are also accomplished jumpers!

During the day, ring-tailed lemurs can frequently be seen basking in the sun with their arms outstretched. They eat fruits, flowers, leaves, bark, sap, insects, and occasionally soil for its minerals. Their diet generally reflects the habitat they are living in and the season wet season versus dry season. Ring-tailed lemurs are also important seed dispersers. Eventually, many of these seeds grow into new trees!

Upon sexual maturity, males join different groups. Females stay in the group into which they were born. Ring-tailed lemur society is female-dominant. Female lemurs have grooming and feeding priority, including first access to high priority foods like fruits. Troops hold territories, and each troop must defend their territory when others intrude. These skirmishes are led by the females, during which their babies need to grip on tightly.

Baby ring-tailed lemurs are called pups. Babies are typically born between September and November, and for lemurs, twin births are pretty common! Female ring-tailed lemurs may give birth as young as three years old, with their gestation pregnancy lasts around days compared to about days for humans.

After a few weeks, the baby is strong enough to be carried on her back. Adult females play an important role in childcare for the entire troop, and often pitch in to help out all of the juveniles. The most common natural predator of the ring-tailed lemur is the cat-like fossa also spelled fosa; Cryptoprocta ferox.

This carnivore lives in many areas across Madagascar and frequently hunts lemurs in trees. Lemurs especially infants are also hunted by large birds of prey, including the Madagascar harrier hawk. Ring-tailed lemurs use various anti-predator strategies, including keeping a lookout and using alarm calls to alert each other. Ring-tailed lemurs are a medium sized lemur, weighing between 5 — 8 pounds, with a head and body length of 14 to 17 inches, and a tail up to 21 inches in length.

They have a fox—like muzzle, prominent ears, and dense fur. The back is usually reddish—brown with the rump and limbs a light gray or gray—brown, and a darker gray crown and neck.

The underparts are white or cream, lightly haired, with dark skin showing beneath. The tail is ringed in black and white with a black tip. The forehead, cheeks, ears and throat are white and dark gray, and there are black rings around the eyes. Hind legs are long; the forelegs are short. Ring-tailed lemurs come from south and southwestern Madagascar, although there is a small isolated population in the southeast plateau. They are found in a wide range of habitats including: brush and scrub forests, closed canopy deciduous forests, dry and rocky mountainous areas with patches of deciduous forests.

In the wild, ring-tailed lemurs primarily eat fruit, leaves, flowers, bark and sap.