Crowned lemur

Distribution

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Crowned lemur distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

Tropical dry forest
Tropical dry forests, in contrast to rainforest, have to survive a long dry season each year, so the predominantly deciduous trees shed their leaves to cope with it. Sunlight can then reach the ground, so the season that's bad for the trees is good for the forest floor.

Behaviours

Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.

• Helpless young
• Tree dweller
• Adapted to climbing
• Hierarchical
• Tactile sense
• Acoustic communication
• Herbivorous
• Maternal care
• Pollinator
• Polygynous
• Social
• Seed dispersal
• Chemical communication
• Territorial
• Visual communication
• Viviparous

About

The crowned lemur (Eulemur coronatus) is a lemur that is 31–36 cm (12-15 inches) long and weighs 2 kg. Its tail is about 42–51 cm long. The crowned lemur is endemic to the dry deciduous forests of the northern tip of Madagascar. It eats a diet of mostly flowers, fruits, and leaves. The population is estimated to 1000-10,000 individuals as of 2004, most of which live within the Ankarana Plateau although there is also a population on the Montagne d'Ambre. This species has a distinctive brown-orange crown on the top of the head. Females have a gray body with an orange crown, and males are a darker reddish brown, crowned with black and orange. Crowned lemurs have a life span of approximately 20 years and reach sexual maturity after 20 months. They give birth usually in late September or early October, after a gestation period of 125 days.

The crowned lemur is in the order of Primates as it possesses characteristics such as pseudo-opposable thumbs, binocular vision and is highly intelligent. E. coronatus shares with others of the family Lemuridae long and slender limbs, a slightly longer nose, a smaller brain and a 'grooming comb' formed by the incisors and canine teeth.

The crowned lemur possesses a long non-prehensile tail used for balance when jumping from branch to branch and for communication within the closely knit, female-led social group.

This member of the Eulemur genus is primarily diurnal but has periods of feeding activity at night too.

Read more at Wikipedia