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Ring-tailed lemur
Lemur catta
- Ring-tailed lemurs love to sunbathe, and do this sitting upright with their arms out sideways in order to warm up at the start of the day.
- Females are dominant over males – this is common in many lemur species.
- Females only have around one day a year where they are able to conceive a baby.
- The name ‘lemur’ is derived from the Latin word for ‘ghosts’.
- Their sense of smell is highly developed; ring-tailed lemurs are able to sniff out who their brothers and sisters are, how old their friends are and even how dominant their rivals are!
Clips
Web exclusive: Ring-tailed lemur smell experiment
Ring-tailed lemurs use their sensitive noses to sniff out age, sex and relatedness.