Lemurs Diet

I will be honest with you people, I didn't even know what lemurs were until I saw the animated movie "Madagascar". The moment I saw them I fell in love with these amazing mammals. They are fast and agile vegetarians. The word lemur is derived from the Latin word Lemures which means ghosts or spirits. Lemurs belong to a group of strepsirrhine primates that are native to the island of Madagascar. Now let's have a look at some information on lemurs diet.

What is a Lemur's Diet?

The diet of a lemur consists mostly of all vegetarian food. Their diet depends up on the breed; smaller species mainly eat fruits and insects, while larger species are herbivorous eating only fruit and plant materials. For example the ring tailed lemur consumes insects and even small vertebrates when it can't find its preferred fruits. While its larger cousin the coquerel giant mouse lemur only eats fruits but when it can't find them it eats insect secretion during the winter season. Small species of lemurs cannot sustain on plant material entirely, so they eat insects and small animals sometimes. Leaves and fruits play a big part in the diet of lemurs. The ring tailed lemur also known as the bamboo lemurs and the black and white ruffed lemur are also known to consume medicinal plants and herbs, which is avoided by most of the other species. The golden bamboo lemur has also been seen eating giant bamboo which contain high levels of cyanide. Some lemurs have also been observed eating poison ivy, but yet they are totally fine with no ill-effects. It has been reported that eight species of lemurs are seed predators, but this is partly true because scientists have only seen lemurs eating fruits with seeds and not seeds alone. Lemurs of all sizes consume flowers. If they do not eat flowers, then the nectar is consumed sometimes. Tree sap is also included in a lemur's diet. Some species of lemurs have been seen eating soil, as it is beneficial for their intestinal digestion.

Basic facts about Lemurs

• Lemurs are small primates which are found in the island of Madagascar and the neighboring Comoro islands.
• There are over 30 living species of lemurs. Some species are now extinct, including the ancient lemur which was as big as a gorilla and it weighed around 400 pounds. Today the lemur can be seen in a variety of shapes and sizes with the tiny mouse lemur and the big indri lemur which is of the size of a house cat. You might also want to know some extinct animals.
• Another interesting lemur fact is that all lemurs are arboreal and spend most of their lifetime on trees, except for the ring tailed lemur which spends a larger part of its life on the ground.
• Ring tailed lemurs have powerful scent glands and they use this unique smell as a communication tool with other lemurs and also as a weapon.
• All lemurs mark their territory with their scent, it is a kind of restraining order for other lemurs. During the mating season male lemurs battle each other using their scent as a powerful weapon. They mask their tail with their smelly secretions and flap them in the air to decide which of the two males is more stronger.
• Lemurs are always found in groups which include not more than 15 lemurs.
• They have long and wet noses which help them to smell many things from a far distance. They also have good eyesight even at night.
• Some species of lemurs are active during the day (diurnal), while some are active in the night (nocturnal).
• Lemurs are an endangered species, a few of them are extinct and the remaining are on the verge of extinction.

This is all the information you need on lemurs diet, I hope you enjoyed reading this article and are opting to adopt them as pets to save them from being extinct.