Sunday, April 01, 2007
Lemur
Head-body length 15-18 inches, tail length 22-24 inches, weight around 6.5-7.75 pounds. Pelage is soft, thick and woolly. Conspicuous black-and-white banded tail. Gray to brown back, white under-parts, a white face with dark brown triangular eye patches and white ears. Eyes are bright red-brown or orange. Face is elongated and fox-like. Females have one pair of mammae. Hindlimbs are considerably longer than forelimbs, giving a hunched, leaning-forward look as they stand or move. Scent glands are present on wrists, arms and chests and are used to mark territory and foraging routes.
These diurnal lemurs start the day soaking up the sun, forage until noon, nap during the hottest part of the day, forage in the late afternoon and evening, and sleep in the trees at night. Ringtails defend resources but are not strictly territorial. Ranges can be15 to 60 acres, depending on the type of habitat and thus the available resources. Troops of 5-24 have non-overlapping territories and disputes usually involve opposing groups of females running at each other and vocalizing. Larger groups form a core group of adult females and infants, juveniles and one or more high-ranking males. Females are extremely dominant and win all disputes with males. Females have dominance relationships, but not dominance hierarchies and there is not always a single, individual leader for the entire group. Even infants grapple for dominance.
Females reach sexual maturity at 2 years of age, have their first young at three years and annually thereafter. Males reach sexual maturity at two and a half years of age, but must contend with older males who will curtail any mating on their part. Mating season is mid-April. Females enter estrous for only a few hours of a single day, although all the females of a group will enter estrous within two weeks of one another.
Bibliography:
Hutchins, Michael, Ed. 2004. Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia
These diurnal lemurs start the day soaking up the sun, forage until noon, nap during the hottest part of the day, forage in the late afternoon and evening, and sleep in the trees at night. Ringtails defend resources but are not strictly territorial. Ranges can be15 to 60 acres, depending on the type of habitat and thus the available resources. Troops of 5-24 have non-overlapping territories and disputes usually involve opposing groups of females running at each other and vocalizing. Larger groups form a core group of adult females and infants, juveniles and one or more high-ranking males. Females are extremely dominant and win all disputes with males. Females have dominance relationships, but not dominance hierarchies and there is not always a single, individual leader for the entire group. Even infants grapple for dominance.
Females reach sexual maturity at 2 years of age, have their first young at three years and annually thereafter. Males reach sexual maturity at two and a half years of age, but must contend with older males who will curtail any mating on their part. Mating season is mid-April. Females enter estrous for only a few hours of a single day, although all the females of a group will enter estrous within two weeks of one another.
Bibliography:
Hutchins, Michael, Ed. 2004. Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia
# posted by saffron @ 7:09 AM 
