Ring-tailed lemur

Ring tailed lemur
Conservation status
	; Endangered (IUCN 3.1)
	CITES Appendix I (CITES)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Strepsirrhini
Family:	Lemuridae
Genus:	Lemur; Linnaeus, 1758
Species:	L. catta
Binomial name
	Lemur catta; Linnaeus, 1758
	Distribution of Lemur catta
Synonyms
	Genus:[1] Prosimia Brisson, 1762[N 1]; Procebus Storr, 1780; Catta Link, 1806[N 2]; Maki Muirhead, 1819[N 3]; Mococo Trouessart, 1878[N 4]; Odorlemur Bolwig, 1960; Species:[1] Maki mococo Muirhead, 1819[N 5];

The ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) is a primate from the group of lemurs (Lemuriformes). It lives in the dry regions of southwest Madagascar.

This lemur weighs between 2 to 3.5 kilograms (4.4 to 7.7 lb). It can live up to 20 years. [2] It is a mid-sized lemur. The striped tail makes it easy to recognize. Its behaviour is somewhat unusual for lemurs: it is active during the day, and spends much time on the ground. Ring-tailed lemurs live in groups of 12 to 15 animals. Each group is led by a female. Ring-tailed lemurs eat both meat and plants, but they mainly eat fruit. They live only in Madagascar. The main threats to ring-tailed lemurs are destroying the places where it lives and hunting.

References

Tattersall 1982, pp. 43–46.
Hannover Zoo: Ring-tailed lemur Archived 2012-07-13 at the Wayback Machine, viewed 2012-12-06

Notes

The genus name Prosimia was declared unavailable by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature in 1998.
Type species was designated as Catta mococo (= Lemur catta Linnaeus, 1758).
Type species was designated as Maki mococo (= Lemur catta Linnaeus, 1758).[1]
The synonym Mococo is sometimes omitted because it was technically a vernacular term for the genus Prosimia.[1] René Primevère Lesson named the type species for this genus as Prosimia catta (= Lemur catta Linnaeus, 1758) in the same year (1878).
Muirhead (1819) credited the name Maki mococo to Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest (1817), although it was actually used as a vernacular name.[1]

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[FOOTNOTETattersall198243–46-1] Tattersall 1982, pp. 43–46.

[7] Hannover Zoo: Ring-tailed lemur Archived 2012-07-13 at the Wayback Machine, viewed 2012-12-06

[synonym:Prosimia-2] The genus name Prosimia was declared unavailable by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature in 1998.

[synonym:Catta-3] Type species was designated as Catta mococo (= Lemur catta Linnaeus, 1758).

[synonym:Maki-4] Type species was designated as Maki mococo (= Lemur catta Linnaeus, 1758).[1]

[synonym:Mococo-5] The synonym Mococo is sometimes omitted because it was technically a vernacular term for the genus Prosimia.[1] René Primevère Lesson named the type species for this genus as Prosimia catta (= Lemur catta Linnaeus, 1758) in the same year (1878).

[synonym:Maki_mococo-6] Muirhead (1819) credited the name Maki mococo to Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest (1817), although it was actually used as a vernacular name.[1]