The woolly lemurs, also known as avahis or woolly indris, are nine species of

strepsirrhine Strepsirrhini or Strepsirhini (; ) is a suborder of primates that includes the lemuriform primates, which consist of the lemurs of Madagascar, galagos ("bushbabies") and pottos from Africa, and the lorises from India and Southeast Asia. Colle ...

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

s in the genus ''Avahi''. Like all other

lemur Lemurs ( ; from Latin ) are Strepsirrhini, wet-nosed primates of the Superfamily (biology), superfamily Lemuroidea ( ), divided into 8 Family (biology), families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are Endemism, ...

s, they live only on the island of

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. The woolly lemurs are the smallest indriids with a body size of and a weight of . Their fur is short and woolly. The body can be grey-brown to reddish, with white on the back of the thighs, 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 A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...

, 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 The fat-tailed dwarf lemur (''Cheirogaleus medius''), also known as the lesser dwarf lemur, western fat-tailed dwarf lemur, or spiny forest dwarf lemur, is endemic to Madagascar. The fat-tailed dwarf lemur is long from its head to the end of i ...

(''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 Weaning is the process of gradually introducing an infant human or other mammal to what will be its adult diet while withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk. In the UK, weaning primarily refers to the introduction of solid foods at 6 mont ...

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 John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...

, 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'').

Classification

Nine species are currently recognized: * Eastern woolly lemur, ''Avahi laniger'' * Western woolly lemur, ''Avahi occidentalis'' *

Sambirano woolly lemur The Sambirano woolly lemur (''Avahi unicolor''), also known as the Sambirano avahi or unicolor woolly lemur, is a species of woolly lemur native to western Madagascar. Description The species are located in Cacamba, on the peninsula of Ampasinda ...

, ''Avahi unicolor'' * Bemaraha woolly lemur, ''Avahi cleesei'' * Peyrieras's woolly lemur, ''Avahi peyrierasi'' * Southern woolly lemur, ''Avahi meridionalis'' * Ramanantsoavana's woolly lemur, ''Avahi ramanantsoavanai'' * Betsileo woolly lemur, ''Avahi betsileo'' * Moore's woolly lemur, ''Avahi mooreorum''

References

External links

Image of female and youngPrimate Info Net ''Avahi'' Factsheets
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1064408 Woolly lemurs Taxa named by Claude Jourdan