Adopt a Gorilla or Golden Lion Tamarin.
Human
Origins Program at
the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History.
Taxonomy
Order: Primates
Family: Lemuridae
Genus and species: Eulemur fulvus rufus
Distribution and Habitat
Red-fronted lemurs live in the deciduous forests
of western and eastern Madagascar, off the southeast coast of Africa.
Red-fronted lemurs are the only subspecies of Eulemur in the western part of its range.
Physical Description
The red-fronted lemur is one of seven subspecies of brown
lemur. They are all sexually dichromatic, meaning that males
and females have different fur patterns. Males are grey to
grey-brown and females are reddish brown. Both sexes have
pale patches over their eyes, and the males have a reddish
crown.
They are about the size of a house cat, 4.5 to 8 pounds (2 to 4 kg). Their tails can measure as much as 22 inches (56 cm).
This is an arboreal species that moves through the forest canopy quadrupedally (on all fours). It is also capable of leaping.
Social Structure
Red-fronted lemurs live in multimale-multifemale social groups
of between four and 18 individuals, although the average group
size is seven to eight. Both home and day ranges for this
subspecies are very small, usually less than 2.5 acres (0.01
km2). Unlike many prosimians, red-fronted lemurs do not show
marked female dominance.
Social bonds within the group are established and reinforced by grooming. Prosimians groom in a unique way. Most prosimians, including red-fronted lemurs, have six lower teeth that stick straight out from their jaw, forming a dental comb that the animals use to groom their fur and the fur of other members of their social group.
Communication
As with all true lemurs, olfactory (smell-oriented) communication is extraordinarily
important, used in such capacities as transmitting physical
state, locomotion, and individual recognition.
Red-fronted lemurs have a few documented calls:
- Ohn: nasal sound. It is used in maintaining group cohesion.
- Cree: high pitched sound. It is a territorial call.
- Crou: alarm call. Signal of danger to other lemurs.
Reproduction and Development
In the wild, female red-fronted lemurs give birth to one offspring
in the fall, after a gestation period of approximately four
months. Infants cling to their mother's belly for
the first three weeks, shifting only to nurse. At approximately
three weeks of age, the young lemurs will begin spending time
riding, jockey style, on the mother's back, and then will take
their first tentative steps. With this hint of independence,
infants begin to taste solid food, sampling bits of whatever
the other members of their group are eating. Nursing continues,
in a steady decline in importance in the infant’s diet,
until the infant is weaned at approximately four to five months
of age. Males have been known to assist the females with child
rearing.
Life Span
Red-fronted lemurs can live 20 to 25 years.
Diet in the Wild
They are mainly folivorous, or leaf-eating, lemurs. They can
also eat flowers, fruit, and bark. However, red-fronted lemurs
have very adaptable diets, shifting to invertebrates and fungi
when plant matter is scarce.
Zoo Diet
They are fed a mixture of fruits and vegetables
and Marion leaf-eater biscuits.
Health Care
Each animal has an annual physical, including a dental checkup.
Fecals are checked for parasites every January and June.
The National Zoo's Red-fronted Lemurs
The Zoo is not actively breeding lemurs. These animals
have well represented genes and the SSP does not need them
as part of the breeding population. The Zoo currently houses
two red-fronted lemurs, one male and one female on Lemur Island.
They arrived from the Duke Primate Research Center in September
2001.
Conservation
Forest destruction is the primary threat to the survival of
red-fronted lemurs. In the west, forests are being cleared
for pasture, while in the east, the forests are burned for
slash-and-burn agriculture and cut for charcoal production.
Red-fronted lemurs are found in several protected areas in
Madagascar, and may be one of the more protected subspecies
of brown lemur.
Lemur References:
Brown Lemur (Eulemur fulvus), 2000, Wisconsin Regional
Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin – Madison,
(link no longer active)
The Lemur Database,
http://www.stormloader.com/lemur/ringtailed.html
Red-fronted Lemurs, 1999, Duke University Primate Research
Center (link no longer active)
Ring-tailed Lemurs, 1999, Duke University Primate Research
Center
http://www.duke.edu/web/primate
Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta), 2000, Wisconsin
Regional
Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin –
Madison
The Variety of Living Lemurs, 1999, Duke University
Primate Research Center
What are Prosimian Primates?, 2001, Duke University
Primate Research Center, (link no longer active)
