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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.

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