The woolly lemurs, also known as avahis or woolly indris, are nine species of strepsirrhine primates in the genus Avahi. Like all other lemurs, they live only on the island of Madagascar.

The woolly lemurs are the smallest indriids with a body size of and a weight of . Their fur is short and woolly. with a long, orange tail. The head is round with a short muzzle and ears hidden in the fur.

Woolly lemurs can be found in humid and dry forests, spending most of their time in the leafy copse. Like many leafeaters, they need long naps to digest their food. Woolly lemurs live together in groups of two to five animals, often consisting of parents and several generations of their offspring.

Like all indriids, the woolly lemurs are strictly herbivorous, eating predominantly leaves but also buds and, rarely, flowers.

Males and females live in pairs. Groups consisting of the mating pair and their offspring generally sleep together during the day in tree forks, vine tangles, and dense tree crowns. Although likely, extrapair copulations (which exist in other pair-living nocturnal lemurs, e.g. the Masoala fork-marked lemur (Phaner furcifer) and the fat-tailed dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus medius)) have not been demonstrated in Avahi species. The gestation period is four to five months, with births usually in September. In the first few months, the young rides on its mother's back. After about six months, it is weaned and can live independently after a year, although it will typically live in proximity to its mother for another year. Overall life expectancy is not known.

On November 11, 2005, a research team that discovered a new species of woolly lemur in 1990 in western Madagascar named the species Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei), after actor John Cleese, in recognition of Cleese's work to save lemurs in the wild. In 2006, a taxonomic revision of eastern avahis based on genetic and morphological analyses led to the identification of two additional species: A. meridionalis and A. peyrierasi. Further taxonomic revision increased the number of species by adding A. ramanantsoavanai and A. betsileo. Finally, a new species was discovered in the Masoala peninsula, Moore's woolly lemur (A. mooreorum).

Etymology

In the east of Madagascar, woolly lemurs are known as avahy, which is an onomatopoeia derived from one of the animal's vocalizations. The Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei) is called dadintsifaky, which means "grandfather of sifakas", on account of its resemblance to members of the genus. The genus is divided into two clades, which are identifiable through mitochondrial DNA analysis, and correspond with geographic distribution. Sonnerat's specimen may not have been the first recording of the animal; Henri Milne-Edwards and Alfred Grandidier believed that a vari de Manghabey that was mentioned by Étienne de Flacourt in 1661 was also a woolly lemur. It was the only known woolly lemur specimen in Europe for almost 50 years. Using the maquis, Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link then wrote of a Lemur brunneus in 1795, based on Gmelin's description. Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire was the first to remove the woolly lemur from the Lemur genus, instead assigning it to Indri as Indri longicaudatus in 1796. and would not become obsolete until 1990, when Yves Rumpler et. al proposed elevating both A. l. laniger and A. l. occidentalis to specific statuses after modeling an infertile hybrid derived from the two taxa. They revisited Avahi in 2005, when they described the southernmost population as the Bemaraha woolly lemur (Avahi cleesei), with the "type specimen" being a collection of photographs, video evidence, morphometric data, and hair samples obtained from wild individuals that were released after examination. They named the species in honor of actor John Cleese for his contributions to lemur conservation. Woolly lemurs have long legs that faciliate their vertical clinging and leaping style of locomotion. The average intermembral index is 57, which is one of the lowest among primates. Woolly lemurs lack caudofemoralis muscles, which are almost ubiquitous across other primate taxa. This roundness is further accentuated by a short, wide nasal bone that is rooted in a deep maxilla. A commonality between all woolly lemurs is the presence of a white patch on the dorsal side of the thigh, which is visible while woolly lemurs are in their typical upright clinging posture. With the exception of the dorsal thigh patches, all woolly lemurs exhibit countershading. Tails tend to be reddish relative to the rest of the pelage.

References

  • Image of female and young
  • Primate Info Net Avahi Factsheets