🇲🇬Madagascar·National Animal (cultural)
🐒Ring-tailed Lemur
The face of the only place on Earth where lemurs live.
Lemurs are found wild only in Madagascar, having evolved in isolation for over 60 million years. The ring-tailed lemur is the species most associated with the country and is widely treated as the de facto national animal, even without official legal status.
Why this animal?
Madagascar's biological isolation makes it home to about 100 lemur species — none living anywhere else. The ring-tailed lemur's distinctive striped tail and social behavior make it the country's most recognizable wildlife ambassador.
Things to know
- ·Ring-tailed lemurs live in matriarchal groups — females outrank males, the opposite of most primates.
- ·They sunbathe in a 'lotus position,' belly out, arms wide, soaking up morning warmth.
- ·Males have stink fights — rubbing scent onto their tails and waving them at rivals.
- ·All lemur species are threatened by deforestation; lemurs are now the most endangered group of mammals on Earth.
- ·Madagascar is the world's fourth largest island and has been isolated long enough that many of its animals — lemurs, fossas, tomato frogs — exist nowhere else.