Indri Lemur
Some of you might remember these guys — the indri indri lemurs (and no, that’s not a typo, indri is repeated in the offical name). They are the largest of all the lemurs at nearly four feet tall, and 21 pounds. Even so, they can be incredibly acrobatic while jumping from tree to tree. As you can see from this guy, they also look a bit like stuffed animals.
Diademed Sifaka
Sifakas are a genus of lemur named for their “shi-fak” alarm call. There are several different species of sifaka, with this guy, the diademed sifaka being the largest among them. Diademed sifakas also happen to be one of the most interesting looking of all the lemurs, with their red eyes and golden, black and white fur. This was one of only two or three diademed sifakas that I saw while in the forests of Madagascar.
Red Fronted Brown Lemur
This is a red fronted brown lemur, photographed in central Madagascar. All lemurs are prosimians, meaning pre monkeys, and as the name would suggest, they predate monkeys and apes. There are nearly a hundred different species of lemur, and they all live in Madagascar. On my trip, I was lucky enough to see and photograph 23 of those species.
Chameleon Eye
Seems to be the week of the eye. This one belongs to a Parson’s chameleon. Chameleons are pretty amazing creatures — they can look in different directions at the same time, they have a tongue that shoots out of their mouths at lighting speed to catch prey, they can change colors, etc. What they’re not good at, however, is making a quick getaway, so once found, they’re easy to photograph. For this shot, taken in central Madagascar, I was only about a foot away.
Eastern Grey Bamboo Lemur
After selecting this image for today’s photo of the day, I realized that an awful lot of my recent postings feature an animal staring directly at the camera. Because of this I was going to try and find something else, but then I remembered the particular challenge of photographing eastern grey bamboo lemurs in the wild. It wasn’t easy. These guys are quick. I remember running through the forest with my guide as the eastern greys kept darting from one tree to another. Finally I got this guy to stay still for a second and I was able to get a quick shot. As with all lemurs, the eastern grey bamboo lemurs are prosimians, meaning literally pre-monkeys. Also including tarsiers and bushbabies, prosimians are primates that pre-date the monkeys and apes that flourished in the rest of the world — in the case of lemurs, away from the geographic isolation of Madagascar.
Comet Moth’s False Eyes
The comet moth is one of the largest moths in the world. It has two sets of “false eyes” on its furry wings — an adaptation to confuse predators. These guys are native to Madagascar, and this one was photographed one morning in Ranomafana National Park.
Black and White Ruffed Lemur
This is a black and white ruffed lemur, one of the 23 different species that I was lucky enough to photograph while in Madagascar. The ringtail is certainly the most well known lemur, but this guy is probably second. At about four feet from head to tail it is also one of the largest of the lemurs — and from my observation, one of the most personable and mischievous.