What is a lemur?

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A lemur is an animal and a member of a special group of animals called "primates." You already know a few primates. There are monkeys, apes, and us! People are primates too.

Lemurs look and act like monkeys, but there are a few differences. They tend to have longer noses, almost snout-like, like dogs. This is because lemurs use their sense of smell a lot! Monkeys are more like people, and depend more on their eyesight. Lemurs usually have very long tails, but unlike some monkeys, lemurs can't use their tails to grab on to things.

Lemurs come in many shapes and sizes, though most are monkey-sized and smaller. They usually live in big groups, and they eat mostly plants and some insects.

Once of the most interesting things about lemurs is where they are found. In almost all cases, lemurs are only found on one island. It's called Madagascar and it is located off Africa's east coast. It used to be a part of Africa, but it broke off and became an island 120 million years ago. The first lemurs only showed up about 55 million years ago. So, how did they get to the island? A lot of people think that they floated! They may have used floating pieces of trees and other plants like rafts to do it! 

by   (whyzz writer)
  • Exploration


    Can you find the island of Madagascar on a map? It's a really interesting place with many animals and plants that exist only there and nowhere else in the world! Lemurs are just one of them.

    Find out what other animals live there. You might be interested in the fossa, which is the island's biggest meat-eater (it looks like a mongoose!) Madagascar is also home to the comet moth, which is a really huge moth! What other cool animals live on the island?
