The Ring-tailed lemur is an easily recognizable, medium-sized Malagasy species with an extremely long, heavily furred tail, covered with black and white rings and allowing the animal to take long leaps when moving between trees. In spite of a common belief, these lemurs don't hang from their tails. The Ring-tailed lemur is the most terrestrial and one of the most intelligent primates on the island. The Ring-tailed lemurs are of high scientific interest due to their use of tools in daily life as well as excellent problem-solving skills.
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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OmnivoreAn omnivore is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and ani...
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ArborealArboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some anima...
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AltricialAltricial animals are those species whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile. They lack hair or down, are not able to obtain food ...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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ZoochoryZoochory animals are those that can disperse plant seeds in several ways. Seeds can be transported on the outside of vertebrate animals (mostly mam...
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Island endemicIsland endemic animals are found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island. Animals or organisms that are indigenous to a place ar...
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JumpingJumping (saltation) can be distinguished from running, galloping, and other gaits where the entire body is temporarily airborne by the relatively l...
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ScansorialScansorial animals are those that are adapted to or specialized for climbing. Many animals climb not only in tress but also in other habitats, such...
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ViviparousAmong animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
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PolygynandryPolygynandry is a mating system in which both males and females have multiple mating partners during a breeding season.
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Highly socialHighly social animals are those which are highly interactive with other members of their species. They live in large groups, nest in colonies, and ...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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Long-Tailed Animals
The natural range of this species occupies the south and southwest Madagascar, where scattered populations of Ring-tailed lemurs are found from Tolagnaro in the southeast to Morondava on the west coast and Ambalavao inland. Additionally, a single, isolated population inhabits the Andringitra Massif on the south-eastern plateau of the island. Preferred types of habitat are spiny forests, lowland gallery forests, dry scrubs, dry deciduous forests, and, sometimes, rock canyons. Meanwhile, the population in the above-mentioned Andringitra Massif lives at higher elevations, among bare rocks, low bushes, and subalpine vegetation. This area is known to have one of the harshest climates on the island.
As diurnal species, the Ring-tailed lemurs are active during the daytime hours. Although these animals are generally terrestrial, they have excellent climbing abilities. The Ring-tailed lemurs are social creatures, forming female-dominated units of 3 - 20 individuals. Individuals of both genders live in separate dominance hierarchies. Females of this species not only dominate over males but also defeat the latter during fights. They are known for their friendly behavior towards individuals of their gender. Females also don't tend to be infanticidal, intentionally killing infants. Instead, they are very attentive to young lemurs, babysitting and forming groups, where infants can play. Moreover, females often switch the babies and nurse infants of other females. After becoming reproductively mature, males leave their natal group, moving between troops when the mating season comes. The Ring-tailed lemurs display less territorial behavior than many other lemurs. However, during the reproductive season, they become highly territorial. During this period, females are typically more territorial than males.
Ring-tailed lemurs are omnivores. These animals generally consume plants, leaves, flowers, nectar, fruit, sap, and bark, often supplementing their usual diet with insects, chameleons, and small birds.
Ring-tailed lemurs polygynandrous (promiscuous), meaning that both the males and females have multiple partners. However, the dominant male in the troop typically breeds with more females than other males. Females typically mate within their troop but may seek outside males. During the mating season, both males and females compete among themselves strongly, which often brings to confrontations and fights. While the former compete for space and resources, the latter defend their mating rights. Mating lasts from the middle of April to June. The gestation period is about 4 - 4.5 months, yielding 1 - 2 infants, typically in August-September. Females of this species are very attentive mothers, sheltering, grooming, feeding, and eagerly carrying their offspring. After a while, the babies can be seen traveling on the abdomen of their mother. By around 2 months old, the infants start eating solid food. Then they begin riding on their mother's back and are finally weaned at 5 months old. Females produce their first litter at 3 years old, whereas males are ready to breed at 2.5 old, although older males of their troop don't permit them to do it.
The Ring-tailed lemurs currently face loss of their bush and forest habitat as a result of overgrazing, burning as well as tree-cutting for the charcoal industry. Localized threats include hunting, trapping, and capture as a pet species.
The total population of the Ring-tailed lemurs in 2009 was between 10,000 - 100,000 individuals. At that moment, the species was listed as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List. Today, Ring-tailed lemurs are classified as Endangered (EN), and their numbers continue to decrease.
On one hand, the Ring-tailed lemurs act as important seed dispersers of fruit-bearing plant species they consume, thus influencing the plant communities of their habitat. On the other hand, they form a link in the local food chain by being a source of food for numerous predators of their range.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...