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Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!hookup!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!ulowell!MathWorks.Com!news.duke.edu!acpub.duke.edu!jfurr From: jfurr@polaris.async.vt.edu (Joel Furr) Newsgroups: alt.fan.lemurs,alt.answers,news.answers Subject: alt.fan.lemurs: Frinkquently Asked Questions (Part 6 of 6, Real Lemur Facts) Followup-To: alt.fan.lemurs Date: 10 Apr 1994 19:47:25 GMT Organization: Duke University; Durham, N.C., USA Lines: 648 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.edu Message-ID: <2o9l4d$hcd@news.duke.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: bio2.acpub.duke.edu Summary: This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked Questions (and the best answers we got) about Lemurs. It should be read by anyone who wishes to post to the alt.fan.lemurs newsgroup. Originator: jfurr@bio2.acpub.duke.edu Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu alt.fan.lemurs:2601 alt.answers:2388 news.answers:17879 Archive-name: lemur-faq/part6 Alt-fan-lemurs-archive-name: lemur-faq/part6 Last-modified: 1993/07/6 Version: 3.0 Official USENET Alt.Fan.Lemurs Frinkquently Asked Questions Part 6 of 6 -- Real Lemur Facts ------------------------------ The Questions (1) Scientifically speaking, what is a lemur? (2) What are some good books to read if I'd like to know more about lemurs? (3) Where can I get lemur finger puppets? (4) Who is Ali Lemer? (5) Who is Rick Frink? (6) Is "Frink" in any dictionary? (7) Who's really to blame for the lemur craze that's sweeping the planet? (8) Where can I find .GIFs of Lemurs? (9) Are there any drinks inspired by lemurs? (10) How can I make my own Twinkies at home? (11) Is Terry Chan in the alt.fan.lemurs FAQ? (12) What's significant about Tob Wood? (13) What _is_ Big K Grape Soda? (14) What was alt.fan.lemurs/alt.folklore.urban Southeast? (15) What was alt.fan.lemurs/soc.singles Southeast? (16) Got any nifty factoids about lemurs to wrap things up with? ------------------------------ The Answers (1) Scientifically speaking, what is a lemur? A lemur is a primate, member of the same order of mammals that men and apes belong to. However, lemurs are thought to be less evolutionarily advanced than men and apes and monkeys are, representing the stage of evolution our ancestors would have been at several million years ago. Note that this does not mean that we are descended from lemurs. Ultimately, somewhere far back, we share a common ancestor. Lemurs are often lumped in with other somewhat less advanced primates known collectively as "prosimians." Other animals sometimes referred to as prosimians include tarsiers, lorises, bushbabies, galagos, pottos, and so forth. None of the aforementioned animals are _lemurs_ per se: lemurs are prosimians who live on Madagascar and the surrounding islands and who belong to the superfamily _Lemuroidea_. Alt.fan.lemurs has its very own lemur researcher, Mr. Bill Sellers, who recently finished his PhD. dissertation on the mechanics of lemur leaping. The following list of lemur families, genii, and species has been run past him but probably still isn't 100% correct. If it's crucial that you know the exact status of lemur taxonomy, send email to wis@liverpool.ac.uk... that's Mr. William I. Sellers, thankyewverymuch. :) Anyway: on to the lemur taxonomy: Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Primates Primates can be divided into two suborders. The older division was between prosimians ("almost monkeys") and anthropoids ("man-like"). The newer division is between Strepsirhini (wet noses) and Haplorhini (dry noses). This change results in tarsiers being grouped with monkeys, apes, and humans as haplorhines; all other prosimians are strepsirhines. (Thus, tarsiers are not listed here, despite still being classed as "prosimians".) Suborder: Strepsirhini Superfamily: Lemuroidea Family: Cheirogaleidae Subfamily: Cheirogaleinae Genus: _Microcebus_ Species: _murinus_, gray mouse lemur _rufus_, rufous mouse lemur _coquereli_, Coquerel's mouse lemur Genus: _Cheirogaleus_ Species: _major_, greater dwarf lemur _medius_, fat-tailed dwarf lemur _trichotis_, hairy-eared dwarf lemur Subfamily: Phanerinae Genus: _Phaner_ Species: _furcifer_, forked-marked dwarf lemur Family: Lemuridae Genus: _Lemur_ Species: _catta_, ring-tailed lemur Genus: _Eulemur_ Species: _macaco_, black lemur _fulvus_, brown lemur _mongoz_, mongoose lemur _coronatus_, crowned lemur _rubriventer_, red-bellied lemur Genus: _Varecia_ Species: _variegatus_, ruffed lemur Genus: _Hapalemur_ Species: _griseus_, gray gentle lemur _simus_, broad-nosed gentle lemur _aureus_, golden bamboo lemur Family: Lepilemuridae Genus: _Lepilemur_ Species: _doralis_, (no common name) _ruficaudatus_, red-tailed sportive lemur _edwardsi_, Edward's sportive lemur _leucopus_, (no common name) _mustelinus_, (no common name) _microdon_, (no common name) _septentrionalis_, (no common name) Family: Indriidae Genus: _Avahi_ Species: _laniger_, avahi or woolly lemur Genus: _Propithecus_ Species: _verreauxi_, Verreaux's sifaka _diadema_, diademed sifaka _tattersalli_, Tattersall's sifaka? Genus: _Indri_ Species: _indri_, Indri (aka babakoto) Superfamily: Daubentonioidea Family: Daubentoniidae Genus: _Daubentonia_ Species: _madagascarienis_, aye-aye FYI, the _following_ critters _are_ prosimians, and _are_ strepsirhines, but are _not_ lemurs, since they belong to a different superfamily and don't live in Madagascar. They are simply listed so you'll know what other animals are currently considered to be prosimians. (As above, tarsiers are now considered to be more similar to apes and men than to prosimians such as lorises and lemurs.) Superfamily: Lorisoidea Family: Lorisidae Subfamily: Lorisinae Genus: _Loris_ Species: _tardigradus_, slender loris Genus: _Nycticebus_ Species: _coucang_, slow loris Genus: _Arctocebus_ Species: _calabarensis_, angwantibo Genus: _Perodicticus_ Species: _potto_, potto Subfamily: Galaginae Genus: _Galago_ Species: _alleni_, Allen's bushbaby _crassicaudatus_, thick-tailed bushbaby _senegalenis_, lesser bushbaby _inustus_, (no common name) _demidovii_, Demidoff's dwarf galago _elegantulus_, needle-nailed bushbaby I hope this is getting to be more or less correct. Bill Sellers tells us that lemur scientists periodically regroup the genii, renaming the genii and moving one genus into a different family as more is learned about the animal, but that _species_ names tend to stay the same. --------------- (2) What are some good books to read if I'd like to know more about lemurs? Two very good books that look at lemurs from a zoological and biological standpoint, reviewing the entire gamut of lemurs from aye-ayes to indris, are: Catherine Harcourt, _Lemurs of Madagascar and the Comoros : the IUCN red data book_ (This one has lots of black and white photos, and is the most recent of the two.) Ian Tattersall, _Lemurs of Madagascar_ (This one is a little older but is the Bible of the lemur research field.) Another book, somewhat broader in scope, is Napier and Napier's _Handbook of Living Primates_, published by the British Natural History Museum. If you want books that talk about lemurs from an anecdotal standpoint, try these two: Durrell, Gerald Malcolm, _The aye-aye and I: a rescue mission in Madagascar_ (Great descriptions of gentle lemurs and aye-ayes.) Adams, Douglas, _Last Chance to See_ (The author of _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy travels to far-off spots to see animals that are in grave danger of extinction. Very interesting stuff about aye-ayes.) --------------- (3) Where can I get lemur finger puppets? Rachel Perkins (rperkins@astro.as.arizona.edu) has a friend who makes them. As she put it: "they're fuzzy, light brown with ringtails, and big black eyes. and they fit on your finger. buy one for yourself, buy one for each finger! they each have their own handcrafted personality!!!" The cost is $5 = $4 for the artist, and $1 for shipping. If you want to pick up yours in person, it's only $4. Rachel isn't making any money on this. To order, email Rachel at rperkins@astro.as.arizona.edu or phone her at (602) 622-3635. --------------- (4) Who is Ali Lemer? Take it from the horse's mouth: >From: phoenix@startide.ctr.columbia.edu (Ali Lemer) >Subject: Uh...you're not going to believe this, but... >Organization: Columbia University Center for Telecommunications Research >Date: Sat, 20 Feb 1993 21:50:16 GMT > >Wow...I think I finally found my netnews niche. Perhaps I could be the >a.f.l.'s official mascot, for... > >...my last name is, LEMER (pronounced LEE-mer, as in our favourite >primate). > >Yes, believe it or not, folks. People always say to me, "Lemer? As in the >monkey?" and I always have to say, "Yeah. <sigh> But with an 'e'." > >In fact, a kid in 10th grade called me, "Ali the Ring-Tailed Lemer from >Madagascar" once... > >Well, there you have it, at any rate. > >-- Ali Lemer. --------------- (5) Who is Rick Frink? >Rick Frink (513) 865-1645 >Mead Data Central Telecomm/Campus Networks >P.O. Box 933 rfrink@meaddata.com >Dayton, Ohio 45401 ...!uunet!meaddata!rfrink No one's told him yet of the unfortunate similarity of his name to the sound commonly used by the average lemur for a wide variety of purposes, some of them even printable in a family newsgroup. ---------------- (6) Is "Frink" in any dictionary? Alt.fan.lemurs made another step upwards toward respectability when 'frink', the Lemur verb of unknown meaning, was included in the latest release of the Jargon File. The Jargon File is the closest thing that the computer and USENET world have to an unabridged dictionary. I'd known for quite some time that the editor, Eric S. Raymond, was planning to include 'frink', but I didn't get to see the actual entry until Jargon File 2.9.12 was released on May 10. :frink: /frink/ v. The unknown ur-verb, fill in your own meaning. Found esp. on the USENET newsgroup alt.fan.lemurs, where it is said that the lemurs know what `frink' means, but they aren't telling. Compare {gorets}. The new release of the Jargon File, 2.9.12, is ftpable from prep.ai.mit.edu as /pub/gnu/jargon2912.txt.z. An updates file is also available as /pub/gnu/jargon-upd.z. To uncompress them, you need to use the gunzip utility... these are not normal .Z compressed files but rather gzipped files. Consult the readme files on prep for more info. --------------- (7) Who's really to blame for the lemur craze that's sweeping the planet? To be honest, the blame falls on the shoulders of four Virginia Tech denizens: Ron Jarrell, jarrell@vtserf.cc.vt.edu; Todd Perry, todd@polaris.async.vt.edu; Joel Furr, jfurr@polaris.async.vt.edu; and Vance Kochenderfer, vkochend@nyx.cs.du.edu These four people, and a few innocent bystanders, engaged in a conversation on vtcosy.cns.vt.edu that inspired Joel Furr to create first a lemurs "conference" and then go on to infect USENET with lemur chat. It's all Ron and Todd and Vance's fault, as you'll see from the excepts below: >Ed Chamberlayne (responding to someone's insult about Ed being >in everyone's crosshairs): Well...I'm in the crosshairs. Goody. >Lamer. Yes. Lamer. Probe a thesaurus?? Get real geekmeister. >I certainly don't need to consult reference books when compos- >ing a message. I guess you do, huh?? >Ron Jarrell (responding to Ed): I still think a Lamer is a type >of monkey. >Joel Furr (responding to Ron): No, that's a lemur. The differ- >ence is that Lemurs are not eligible for membership in Toastmas- >ters International, being incapable of human speech. >C. Carson (commenting to Joel): Not too mention the Mongo size >Eyes... >Joel Furr (blathering on): Lemurs are actually primates, as you >know. The clever little fellas inhabit the island of Madagascar >and some species are so shy that only one or two individuals of >each species have ever been seen. >Ron Jarrell (in an entirely different conversation): Well, as >of the nightly report last night we had processed 27,885 usenet >messages, up from a normal high of anywhere from 9-11,000.... >Joel Furr (reviving the thread): How many of them were about >lemurs? >Daniel Pawtowski (interjecting): Probably fewer than there were >about cows. >Ron Jarrell (responding to Joel): I haven't had the chance yet >to run the artificial intelligent lemur detection routines on >it.. Even the 5810's RISC chip can only do about 100 lemurs a >second, so I didn't want to bog it down with 27,000 lemurs. >Todd Perry (commenting to Ron): Where did you get that figure? >Be careful with the Lemur benchmark. Several manufacturers have >rigged their compilers to detect Lemur benchmark code and opti- >mize it to death, so you get a much higher lemurs/sec rating >than you would in real life... >Joel Furr (also commenting to Ron): Well, that would only take >270 seconds... four and a half minutes, and think of all the >lemurs you could detect in that time. >Vance Kochenderfer (coming in from out of the blue): Anyone >want to go out and do some lemur-tipping? >Ron Jarrell (ignoring Joel and Vance and commenting to Todd): Oh >really? I might have been getting psuedo-lemurs? I'll see if I >can find the real lemur count.. >Joel Furr (summing up): Inquiring lemurs want to know. And it raged on from there. --------------- (8) Where can I find .GIFs of Lemurs? The following sites have lemur .GIFs in the following directories: wuarchive.wustl.edu, /graphics/gif/l compute1.cc.ncsu.edu, /mirrors/wustl/graphics/gif/l plaza.aarnet.edu.au, /graphics/gif/l The files are "lemur01" through "lemur11". --------------- (9) Are there any drinks inspired by lemurs? Yes. Here are three. Try them at your own risk. From: Spike the Destroyer <STDNCHGA%LMUACAD.BITNET@VM.USC.EDU> Subject: Screaming Lemur Recipe >Take one standard sized $8.99 bottle of reasonably cheap gin. We >use Popov. Purchase a package of Hawaiian Punch drink mix. The >traditional flavor of choice is "Sharkleberry Punch", but a >reasonable alternative is Rock Island Red or some other silly >name. Just as long as the hue of the drink is resembles the >intesine of a lemur. (light to medium pink) Mix the two together, >and ice heavily. > >That's it! If you proportion it correctly, it should be very >sweet with only a slight hint of gin aftertaste. You may dillute >with sugar or water if you really need to. From: Joel Furr (jfurr@polaris.async.vt.edu) Subject: Reeling Lemur Recipe >Ingredients: >3/4 glass of Big K Grape Soda >1/4 glass of "Aristocrat" vodka >Ice > >One or two of these will have the most well-balanced and upright >lemur staggering and reeling around the apartment. From: schumach@convex.com (Richard A. Schumacher) Subject: Recipe for "Sleepy Lemur" >1 oz. Kahlua >1 oz. creme de Cacao >1 oz. vodka >Balance skim milk and chipped ice > >Serve in a large truncated conical glass, or in a plastic rocket >ship with a straw. --------------- (10) How can I make my own Twinkies at home? Sylvia Sotomayor (ciaran@netcom.com) tells all: This is primarily (but not only) for our British readers, who are having difficulties getting twinkies (tm). I got this twinkie recipe from a book Top Secret Recipes, by Todd Wilbur, published by Plume. $10. ISBN 0-452-26995-4. I didn't get permission to share this or anything, but then I work for Plume, so they better not mind. Besides, this book has lots and lots of neat recipes in it, so it is worth buying anyway! Twinkie Recipe: You will need a spice bottle (approximately the size of a Twinkie), twelve 12 by 14 inch pieces of aluminum foil, a cake decorator or pastry bag, and a toothpick. Ingredients: for the Cake: nonstick spray, 4 egg whites, one 16 ounce box golden pound (or sponge, whatever) cake mix, and 2/3 cup water. for the Filling: 2 tablespoons butter, 1/3 cup vegetable shortening, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/3 cup evaporated milk, 1 tea-spoon vnilla extract, and 2 drops lemon extract. Step 1: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Step 2: Fold each piece of aluminum foil in half twice. Wrap the folded foil around the spice bottle to create a mold. Leae the top of the mold open for pouring in the batter. Make twelve of these molds and arrange them on a cookie sheet or in a shallow pan. Grease the inside of each mold with a light coating of nonstick spray. (According to the diagrams in the book, a Twinkie is approximately four inches long, 1 and 3/4 inches wide and about an inch or so tall.) Step 3: Disregard the instructions on the box of cake mix. Instead, beat the egg whites until stiff. Combine them with the cake mix and water, and beat until thoroughly blended (about 2 minutes). Step 4: Pour the batter into the molds, filling each one about 3/4 inch. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. Step 5: For the filling, cream the butter and shortening. Slowly add the sugars while beating. Step 6: Add the evaporated milk, vanilla, and lemon extract. Step 7: Mix on medium speed ntil completely smooth and fluffy. Step 8: When the cakes are done and cooled, use a toothpick to make three small holes in the bottom of each one. Move the toothpick around the inside of each cake to create space for the filling. Step 9: Using a cake decorator or pastry bag, inject each cake with filling through all three holes. Makes 12. End of recipe. They, of course, forgot to add Step 10: Feed to thankful lemurs. Enjoy, Sylvia Try it! --------------- (11) Is Terry Chan in the alt.fan.lemurs FAQ? Yes. His address is twcaps@dante.lbl.gov. Send him all the fan mail you want. --------------- (12) What's significant about Tob Wood? Tob Wood, aka tob@cwis.unomaha.edu, was toasted with a special birthday toast at AFU/AFL Southeast, held at Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina, on March 27, 1993. Basically, Tob couldn't attend, since he's all the way out in Omaha, Nebraska, but since his birthday fell on the 27th, he asked that we take brief note of it in passing during the event. A group of people, some of whom had even posted to alt.fan.lemurs at some point in their lifetime, took time out from their discussions of zeppelins and alternate histories to have a toast of Big K Grape Soda to Tob. --------------- (13) What _is_ Big K Grape Soda? Big K Grape Soda is a brand of soda sold by Kroger supermarkets. Kroger is a fairly wide-spread chain with offices in Cincinnati, Ohio and stores located in many U.S. states. Kroger has, as most supermarkets do, an essentially generic house brand of most everything. In the case of soda, the house brand is called "Big K." It usually sells for about 49 or 59 cents per 2 liter jug and isn't all that bad. Lemurs like it because of that great generic taste. --------------- (14) What was alt.fan.lemurs/alt.folklore.urban Southeast? alt.fan.lemurs/alt.folklore.urban Southeast was a get-together held on March 27, 1993 in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, including people from alt.fan.lemurs and alt.folklore.urban. Since it was the first such event held in the southeastern USA, the turnout was not massive, but attendance is expected to rise in future years. Attending on behalf of alt.fan.lemurs were Joel Furr and Vance Kochenderfer; attending on behalf of alt.folklore.urban were Bruce Tindall, Jim Cambias, and Diane Kelly. Also attending was Dena Barbee (a member of the great non-USENET world population) and three goats, one cat, and infinite numbers of lemurs. The featured attraction was a tour of the Duke University Primate Center, located in Durham. In addition to the tour, the participants had lunch at a dim sum restaurant, beer at a brewpub, and a relaxing evening of urban legend trading in Bruce Tindall's palatial mansion in Carpenter, North Carolina. --------------- (15) What was alt.fan.lemurs/soc.singles Southeast? It's a long story -- the soc.singles newsgroup had been planning a big "boink" as they called it in Durham, North Carolina, during the June 18-19-20 weekend of 1993. Louise Perry, an alt.fan.lemurs reader who studies in England yet who was visiting her family in the USA, was also going to be in Durham for a DUPC visit as she had adopted a red-ruffed lemur named Diphda. Since there were all these people in the Durham area I knew vaguely, I went down too! When all was said and done, we had a group of some fifteen people going around the standard DUPC tour. We got to see some of the animals we'd adopted, but not up close and personal since the educational coordinator who would have arranged that was not on duty that day. Louise did get to meet Diphda and pose for photos, and I got to wow everyone with my encyclopedic knowledge of lemur trivia. We also got to see the new DUPC noctural animals facility, which was crammed with adorable little mouse lemurs and lorises and tarsiers. This time around, the people present were as follows. There were three alt.fan.lemurs readers there and three associated hangers-on; the three readers were Joel Furr, Louise Perry, and Timothy Satterfield (a Durham-area resident). Louise had brought along her boyfriend, Jim Parberry of Norfolk, England, and Tim had brought along two friends from the locality, Cheryl and Jared Murphy. We were accompanied into the Primate Center by someone who'd unexpectedly shown up as well: Dena Barbee, the friend of Bruce Tindall's who participated in AFL/AFU Southeast yet missed the lemur tour through unexpected circumstances. Dena was back to do the tour for the first time and coincidentally was there the same day as AFL/SS Southeast. Our contingent from soc.singles consisted of Beth "Diamond" Abrams, Paul Wallich, Seth Breidbart, and Eleanor "Piglet" Evans. There were apparently dozens of other soc.singles-ites wandering around Durham that day that we only glimpsed lolling at a picnic table on the DUPC grounds as we were finishing our tour. --------------- (16) Got any nifty factoids about lemurs to wrap things up with? Sure. We can't tell you everything there is to tell about lemurs because there's so much to know, but the books listed earlier will help you get started. To wrap up the FAQ, here're a few factoids about some lemur species that you might like to amaze your friends with. (Thanks, Bill, for your contributions.) Ringtailed lemurs: Ringtails have black and white circles around their tails, and a black masklike area on its face around their eyes. Ringtails are often very friendly, but also very acquisitive. Don't leave your car keys lying around where this lemur can find them. If you have laserdiscs of Japanese cartoons, the lemur will be your friend for life. Grey gentle bamboo lemurs: These lemurs are small, soft, friendly-looking, and not at all menacing in appearance. But wait: grey gentle bamboo lemurs are actually known for their temper. If you meet a lemur, and the lemur sneaks up behind you and takes a swipe at you with well sharpened fingernails, odds are you've spotted a Gentle Lemur; Gentle Lemurs have been seething for generations over being stuck with such a silly designation and are out to prove that they are anything but gentle. If the lemur does not attack, but instead sits down and chews on a nice clump of cyanide-laden bamboo leaves, you're seeing another interesting quality of the bamboo lemurs: bamboo lemurs can ingest cyanide in quantities that would kill primates several times their size. When British conservationist Gerald Durrell was in Madagascar collecting specimens for breeding, he kept a well-fed and well-cared-for collection in an adjacent hotel room, and noticed that among their repertoire was a popping sound not at all unlike the sound of a champagne bottle being uncorked. A roomful of these creatures, of course, would sound like a cocktail party. Sifakas: Sifakas are white of fur, with extremely long arms and legs and with black faces. Sifakas are among the largest of lemurs. Sifakas (pronounced Shi-fahks or Shi-falks) are a variety of lemur that has proved to be exceptionally hard to keep in captivity due to their preference for heart- shaped beds and Magic Fingers boxes instead of green-walled enclosures with a few pipes projecting out for them to climb on. Consequently, they've become very skilled at outwitting their human captors, picking locks (I'm NOT making this up) and devising ways to get extra food despite the presence of electric shocks around the food trays. Aye-ayes: Aye-ayes are small and rodent-like, with a long, skinny middle finger ending in a hooklike nail? Aye-ayes are especially feared by the Malagasy natives because of a local superstition that aye-ayes can curse people to gruesome deaths simply by pointing their long middle fingers at you. Aye-ayes are generally killed on sight by the natives. Efforts to breed them in captivity are paying off bit by bit, as the first aye-aye born in captivitity was born last year at the Duke University Primate Center: Blue Devil. Aye-ayes live off insects, which they dig out of rotten wood with their long hook-tipped middle fingers. When they were first discovered, they were thought to be rodents, and it was not until much later that they were identified as primates. Black lemurs: Interestingly, black lemurs have brilliantly blue eyes, and are in fact the only primate species other than man that has blue eyes. The females are golden-furred and the males are black-furred. This difference in color between the sexes is known as "sexual dimorphism." Partly because blue-eyed lemurs look so glamorous, the Duke University Primate Center names them all after movie stars such as Judy Garland and Robert Redford. Dwarf lemurs (Cheirogaleidae): These are the small, sneaky, steal your twinkies before you notice them lemurs. They are mostly a rather nondescript brown (all the better for you not to see them) except for the fork-tailed (forked?) lemur (furcifer) which has a striking black fork shaped mark running from the base of it's tail to its head. Some of them (the fat-tailed lemurs) have (you guessed it) fat tails. This is where they store their twinkies in the off season. Probably the cutest (and certainly the smallest) is the mouse lemur. These are prime espionage agents, weighing in at approx 60g - mouse size. Just imagine a mouse that can leap 2 metres, and has little grasping hands, and tickles like crazy when running around inside your T-shirt. There's much more to know about lemurs, and alt.fan.lemurs is the place to start. Welcome aboard! ------------------------------------------------------------------ Revised April 5, 1993 by Joel Furr, jfurr@polaris.async.vt.edu Revised July 6, 1993, by Joel Furr, jfurr@polaris.async.vt.edu