Ring-tailed Lemur - Friday fun info and pics

[Kadie]

A ring-tailed lemur plays in his new enclosure at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, Friday, May 27, 2011. The bachelor group of five rare primates from Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo were opened to the public Friday


One of five newly arrived male Ring-tailed Lemurs peeks out from a door in their enclosure at Sydney's Taronga Zoo May 27, 2011. Ring-tailed Lemurs have come to popular attention in recent times after being featured in the comedy movies "Fierce Creatures" and "Madagascar".


A ring-tailed lemur reacts as a keeper walks through his new enclosure at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, Friday, May 27, 2011. The bachelor group of five rare primates from Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo were opened to the public Friday.


A keeper feeds a ring-tailed lemur in his new enclosure at Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, Friday, May 27, 2011. The bachelor group of five rare primates from Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo were opened to the public Friday.

pics from daylife.com

*******

Ring-tailed lemur
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families. It is the only member of the Lemur genus. Like all lemurs it is endemic to the island of Madagascar. Known locally in Malagasy as hira or maky (spelled maki in French), it inhabits gallery forests to spiny scrub in the southern regions of the island. It is omnivorous and the most terrestrial of lemurs. The animal is diurnal, being active exclusively in daylight hours.

The ring-tailed lemur is highly social, living in groups of up to 30 individuals. It is also female dominant, a trait common among lemurs. To keep warm and reaffirm social bonds, groups will huddle together forming a lemur ball. The ring-tailed lemur will also sunbathe, sitting upright facing its underside, with its thinner white fur towards the sun. Like other lemurs, this species relies strongly on its sense of smell and marks its territory with scent glands. The males perform a unique scent marking behavior called spur marking and will participate in stink fights by impregnating their tail with their scent and wafting it at opponents.

As one of the most vocal primates, the ring-tailed lemur utilizes numerous vocalizations including group cohesion and alarm calls. Experiments have shown that the ring-tailed lemur, despite the lack of a large brain (relative to simiiform primates), can organize sequences, understand basic arithmetic operations and preferentially select tools based on functional qualities.

Despite being listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List and suffering from habitat destruction, the ring-tailed lemur reproduces readily in captivity and is the most populous lemur in zoos worldwide, numbering more than 2000 individuals. It typically lives 16 to 19 years in the wild and 27 years in captivity.

more...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring-tailed_lemur




:)

[alsame]

1. Gee, thanks Kadie,

now I want one :rofl:

[Kadie]

3. : )

:D

[Aerows]

2. What a cutie pie!

Thank you for the smile it induced - awesome little cutie pie :)

[robdogbucky]

4. Obviously related to this North American cousin

Ring-tailed Cat

The Ringtail (Bassariscus astutus) is a mammal of the raccoon family (thus not actually a cat), native to arid regions of North America. It is also known as the Ringtail cat, Ring-tailed cat or Miner's cat, and is also sometimes mistakenly called a "civet cat" (after similar, though unrelated, cat-like omnivores of Asia and Africa). The Ringtail is sometimes called a cacomistle, though this term seems to be more often used to refer to Bassariscus sumichrasti.

Physical description

The Ringtail is buff to dark brown in color with white underparts and a flashy black and white striped tail that has 14-16 white and black stripes,<2> which is longer than the rest of its body. The claws are short, straight, and semi-retractable.<3> The eyes are large and purple, each surrounded by a patch of light fur. It is smaller than a housecat, measuring 30–42 cm long with a tail of 31–44 cm and weighing 0.8–1.5 kg. Ringtails have occasionally been hunted for their pelts, but the fur is not especially valuable.

Range and habitat

The Ringtail is found in southern California, Colorado, eastern Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Arizona, New Mexico, southern Nevada, Texas, Utah and throughout northern and central Mexico. Its distribution overlaps that of B. sumichrasti in the Mexican states of Guerrero, Oaxaca and Veracruz.<3> It is found in rocky, desert as its habitat, where it nests in the hollows of trees or abandoned wooden structures. The ringtail is the state mammal of Arizona. It is also found in the Great Basin Desert. The Great Basin desert covers most of Nevada and over half of Utah, as well as parts of California, Idaho, and Oregon. The ringtail prefers to live in rocky habitats associated with water. These areas can include riparian canyons, caves, and mine shafts.

Agility

The ankle joint is flexible and able to rotate over 180 degrees, a trait helping make it an agile climber. Their considerable tail provides balance for negotiating narrow ledges and limbs, even allowing them to reverse directions by performing a cartwheel. Ringtails also can ascend narrow passages by stemming (pressing all feet on one wall and their back against the other or pressing both right feet on one wall and both left feet on the other), and wider cracks or openings by ricocheting between the walls.<4>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring-tailed_Cat


I saw one of these at the McCloud River's Nature Conservancy cabin about 20 years ago. They are really smart creatures.

I tried to post the picture on that page to show how much alike these two animals are, but pics don't cut and paste for me. Can someone give me the cliff notes version of how that is done?



rdb

[Kadie]

7. Here is the picture...

They are so cute!



To get the pics you need to right click on the pic, then copy image url, then paste in your post. Also, you can click on the picture to see if it comes up in its own tab, the grab the url.

:hi:

[jberryhill]

5. Has it announced a GOP presidential candidacy run yet?

Or do they have to mature a bit before they do that?

[blondeatlast]

6. The Phoenix Zoo has a marvelous group of these on their own little island.

I could sit and watch them all day. The way they move is amazing.

[xchrom]

8. the drop jawed lemur:

'put that thing away! think of the children!'

[Bombero1956]

9. King Julian or a relative

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CkDFVFdH8M&feature=related