Ring-Tailed Lemur (Lemur catta)

Ring-Tailed Lemur overview

The ring-tailed lemur is the best-known of Madagascar's roughly 100 lemur species, instantly recognizable by its long tail banded in black and white. It is a cat-sized primate with a gray back, white belly, a pointed white face and dark eye patches, and it is the only living member of the genus Lemur. Ring-tailed lemurs spend more time on the ground than any other lemur and live in female-led troops of about 6 to 30 animals. They are active by day, rely heavily on scent signals and begin cold mornings by sunbathing, sitting upright with arms spread toward the sun.

How Long Do Ring-tailed Lemurs Live?

Ring-tailed lemurs live 16–19 years in the wild and commonly 20–27 years in zoos. A few captive animals have lived past 30. In the wild, droughts cause heavy losses, and up to half of infants die in their first year. The fossa, hawks and introduced dogs and cats are their main predators.

How Much Does a Ring-tailed Lemur Weigh?

Adult ring-tailed lemurs weigh 2.2–3.5 kg (4.9–7.7 lb), about as much as a small house cat. Wild adults average around 2.2 kg, and well-fed zoo animals are heavier. Males and females are the same size, which is unusual among primates.

How Long Is a Ring-tailed Lemur?

A ring-tailed lemur's head and body measure 39–46 cm (15–18 in), and the tail is longer than the body at 56–63 cm. The tail has 12 or 13 white rings and 13 or 14 black rings, and always ends in a black tip. It cannot grip branches.

How Long Is a Ring-tailed Lemur Pregnant?

A ring-tailed lemur is pregnant for about 135 days, or four and a half months. Mating is tightly seasonal, and each female is receptive for less than a day per year. Most births are single infants born in September, though twins are common when food is plentiful.

What Do Ring-tailed Lemurs Eat?

Ring-tailed lemurs are opportunistic omnivores that mainly eat fruit and leaves. The tamarind tree is their staple, providing up to half their food in some forests. They also eat flowers, bark, sap and, now and then, insects, spiders and small vertebrates such as chameleons.

Diet type: omnivore. Chiefly fruit and leaves, with tamarind pods and leaves as the single most important food; also flowers, bark, sap and herbs, plus occasional insects, spiders, chameleons and small birds.

Where Do Ring-tailed Lemurs Live?

Ring-tailed lemurs live only in southern and southwestern Madagascar. They use more habitat types than any other lemur, including riverside gallery forest, dry deciduous forest, spiny desert scrub and bare rocky mountains, and they cope with some of the island's hottest, driest and coldest conditions.

Are Ring-tailed Lemurs Endangered?

The ring-tailed lemur is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, and wild numbers are decreasing sharply. Habitat loss from slash-and-burn farming, charcoal production and overgrazing is the main cause, along with hunting for food and capture for the illegal pet trade. It is, however, the most common lemur in zoos.

Endangered

Ring-Tailed Lemur fun facts

• Males hold stink fights: they smear their tails with scent from glands on their wrists and chests, then wave the tails at rivals.
• Females are dominant over all males in the troop and get first choice of food and resting spots.
• Ring-tailed lemurs have a toothcomb, a row of narrow forward-pointing lower teeth, and a special grooming claw on each foot.
• A troop on the move holds its tails straight up like flags, which helps members keep each other in sight.
• Lemurs reached Madagascar from mainland Africa tens of millions of years ago, most likely by rafting on floating vegetation.

Rankings and comparisons

Ring-Tailed Lemur FAQ

Related animals

All mammals