Scientific Name: Variegata Variegata

Status:

Facts: Black and white ruffed lemurs belong to a primitive group of primates called prosimians. They live high in the trees of the rainforest in family groups of 6-15 individuals. They are vegetarians, eating mostly fruits, leaves, nectar, and seeds. Lemurs reach sexual maturity at the age of 2, breeding in May and June.

After a gestation period lasting 90 to 120 days, they can have up to 4 babies, but most commonly two. The lemur's life span is between 15 and 20 years. Lemurs have 6 long teeth on their bottom jaw that act as a comb to groom their coat. This type of grooming reinforces social bonds between family members. Ruffed lemurs vocalize demonstrating different emotions including a series of alarm calls signifying a possible nearby predator.

Range: All lemurs are found only on the island of Madagascar located off the southeast coast of Africa. Black and white ruffed lemurs are found up to 1200 meters above sea level in the eastern rainforest. Madagascar's eastern lowland rainforest is being converted to farmland at an alarming rate, further threatening the already endangered lemurs.

Conservation: The black and white ruffed lemur is one of 53 living species of lemurs. They are currently classified as an endangered species. In 1997, a group of five individual lemurs was reintroduced to the wild and a second group of four was reintroduced in 1998. Since then, introduced lemurs have successfully mated with their wild counterparts slowly increasing the population.

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