.jpg/960px-Ring-Tailed_Lemur_(53220204916).jpg)
Where does Ring-tailed lemur come from?
The ring-tailed lemur comes from southern and southwestern Madagascar, the only place where it lives in the wild. With its long black-and-white ringed tail, it is the most easily recognised of all lemurs and the most studied.
Forests of the dry south
Like all lemurs, the ring-tailed lemur is found only on Madagascar. Its range runs from Tôlanaro, also called Fort-Dauphin, through the spiny forests of the south and north along the west coast, with a small population near the Andringitra mountains. These are some of the hottest, driest forests on the island. It favours gallery forests along rivers and spends more time on the ground than any other lemur. It eats mainly fruit and leaves, from as many as three dozen kinds of plants.
Troops led by females
Ring-tailed lemurs live in troops of usually 6 to 25 animals, and sometimes more than 30. Females are dominant: they get first choice of food and of mates, which is unusual among primates. Females stay all their lives in the troop where they were born, while males move to other groups when they mature. On the move, troop members hold their tails up like flags to keep together. Troops gather in open spots to sunbathe in a 'yoga position', bellies to the sun and limbs stretched out, warming up before they forage.
Fighting with smells
Smell matters greatly to lemurs. Males have scent glands on their wrists and chests, and a horny spur on each wrist gland that they use to pierce branches before marking them. To mark a tree trunk, a lemur may even do a handstand. In a stink fight, two rival males stand a few feet apart, draw their tails through their wrist glands and wave them over their heads, staring at each other, until one of them gives up and runs away.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org ↗ · nationalzoo.si.edu ↗ · lemur.duke.edu ↗
.jpg/330px-IMG_2973_%E5%8D%95%E5%B3%B0%E9%A9%BC_(38263873691).jpg)
.jpg/330px-Three_graceful_horses_(Unsplash).jpg)
