text x_quick_Title2=Class: Mammalia~Order: Primates~Family: Lemuridae~(Eulemur coronatus)
text x_quick=Where in the World~\
` Crowned lemurs are found on the island of Madagascar.~\
` Not much is known about the crowned lemur, but its population is definitely declining.~~\
Take a Look!~\
` The crowned lemur is usually between a foot and a foot and a half long, and the tails add another foot and a half to two feet to the overall length.~\
` Adult crowned lemurs weigh between four and six pounds.~\
` The reddish, V-shaped ridge of fur on the head gives the crowned lemur its name.~\
` Male crowned lemurs are reddish-brown in colour, while females are silky grey.~~\
All in the Family~\
` There are 12 kinds of lemur species still alive and the crowned lemur is related to all of them. Its closest relatives are the black lemur, the mongoose lemur, and the red-bellied lemur.~~\
Just the Facts~\
` Crowned lemurs are most active during the day D they are diurnal. (Animals that are active at night are called nocturnal.)~\
` The crowned lemurs live in loose groups. The females tend to decide where the group will go to find food, and the males are more aggressive with strangers.~\
` Crowned lemurs live in trees, but they travel on the ground very readily to go from one food tree to another.~\
` A crowned lemur's diet consists of flowers and fruits. During dry periods when few trees produce anything tastier, crowned lemurs eat leaves.~\
` Crowned lemurs probably mate from April to June, and the female has one infant (twins are not too rare) in August, September, or October.~\
` The baby clings to its mother, first hanging on to her chest and then moving to her back when it is old enough to hang on.~\
` The infant is weaned when it is about five months old, and is old enough to mate when it is just a year and a half old.~\
` Lemurs thrive in captivity. Zoo lemurs can live to be 18 years old.
;Habitat
text x_hab= A crowned lemur's favourite habitat is the dry forests at the northern tip of Madagascar. That tip is called the Cap d'Ambre, and the crowned lemurs are found there and as far south as a small mountain range called the Ankarana massif. Within this area, the crowned lemurs are actually pretty adaptable. They prefer the dry forests, but they've been seen living in the moist forests on the Montagne d'Ambre, a mountain that gets a bit more rain than the arid, dry habitat the crowned lemur usually lives in. The crowned lemurs are running out of habitat, and it may be that the lemurs would rather live in moist forests than no forests at all.~\
Quite a lot of the crowned lemur's time is spent with the lemur group sitting or climbing about in a tree. They get most of their food from trees, and often rest there. But they don't mind travelling on the ground, and usually swing along fairly quickly on all fours, with the long tail carried curling up behind. (Every now and then, someone catches a glimpse of a crowned lemur walking on its back feet, but the lemur doesn't keep it up for very long.)~\
Crowned lemurs like a mixture of tall-trees forests and open areas. In some parts of the range, the forests are being cut down, but even that can have advantages for the crowned lemur. Where forests are cut down. more sunlight can get to the plants below. One of the crowned lemur's favourite meals is the fruit of a liana vine, and the best place to find it growing is in cleared areas.
;Life Style
text x_life= Lemurs are odd-looking animals. They look like cat-sized racoons with a fox's face. With all those similarities, would you have guessed that a lemur comes from the same group as monkeys and humans? They do. Like you, lemurs are members of the primate order. When you look at a lemur, you're looking at an animal that shares an ancestor with you! Granted, that ancestor existed millions and millions of years ago, so you probably don't have to send the lemurs birthday cards or call them on the phone like you do with your other relatives!~\
Lemurs were the most advanced form of life for a long time. (This was millions of years ago.) At that time, the island of Madagascar was part of the continent of Africa, and there were lemurs all over Africa. Over a long period of time, the island shifted away from the continent, taking with it all the animals and plants that existed everywhere else. In Africa, the process of evolution changed the balance of life. Monkeys came into existence, and they are bigger and smarter than lemurs. Eventually, the lemurs were eased out of the top dog position. Much later, the lemurs died out entirely on the African continent.~\
But the island of Madagascar was safe and undisturbed in the Indian Ocean. Monkeys never developed, so the lemurs never lost their place at the top. In fact, the island of Madagascar is like a time machine - there are plants and animals there that haven't existed for millions of years on the mainland. That's why the preservation of the Madagascar wilderness is so important. (The dominant primates did eventually make it to Madagascar to upset the balance, but by that time, humans were the dominant primate, and we're the ones who have upset the balance of nature in Madagascar. The good news is that we can do more than destroy - we can conserve and protect, too.)~\
Crowned lemurs are one of the species of lemurs found on Madagascar and the nearby (much smaller) Comoro Islands. There is a lot of discussion about how many species of lemurs there are - for a long time, scientists thought that the crowned lemur was a subspecies of the mongoose lemur, so it's hard to give a truly accurate count. There are probably around 12 different lemur species, not counting the many species that are already extinct. Crowned lemurs live in loose groups in the forests and savannahs at the northern end of Madagascar. (Savannahs are grasslands with scattered trees.) They are chatty, noisy animals that are just as content travelling along on all fours on the ground as they are leaping in and through trees.
;Food and Feeding
text x_eat= Fruit and flowers are the crowned lemur's favourite things to eat. The open savannahs have trees that produce a fruit that's like a grapefruit - the crowned lemurs like them as much as humans do. Plus, in cleared areas, a liana vine grows that bear another kind of fruit. The seeds are poisonous, but the crowned lemur holds the fruit in its dextrous forepaws and peels the skin back neatly and then delicately nibbling the fruit away from the seeds. Once the seeds are clean, the lemur drops them to the ground.~\
When the dry season begins, the lemurs look for the trees that have adapted to dry weather, like fig trees. If the dry season goes on too long and no fruits are available, the crowned lemurs will eat leaves, although they don't seem to like a leaf dinner as much as a fruit dinner. ~\
Finding water can be another problem. Many leaves are extra-hard to digest or have toxins in them, so the crowned lemurs need plenty of water. They keep track of tree stumps that fill with water, or rocky ledges that hold moisture. They crane their necks and stretch out their tongues and drink until the water level falls too low, then they reach in with a long arm and dangle their hands in the water. Then they lick the hand dry. In one region, there's a year-round supply of water in a cave. The only way in is climbing down a vertical shaft, like a chimney, that is 16 feet tall. The crowned lemurs, of course, scramble in and out with ease.
;Threats
text x_threat= There are two threats to the crowned lemur. The first is the loss of habitat. They live in dry forests which are filled with valuable trees. Some people cut down the trees for timber, that's good for the busy lumber man, but not so good for the crowned lemurs and other animals that live in the forest. In addition, much of the wild land at the northern end of Madagascar is being developed. Land is cleared to make room for fields of crops or pastureland for grazing sheep or cattle.~\
