LEMURS

The sounds we’re listening to were produced by lemurs, small furry animals with long tails and delicate features who spend most of their time in trees. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by the American Museum of Natural History.

Like humans and chimpanzees, Lemurs are primates. But you’ll only find them in one part of the world — the east African island of Madagascar. Scientists still aren’t sure how they got there; one theory suggests that the lemurs drifted from mainland Africa on floating rafts of vegetation. But over the many years since they left their other primate relatives behind, lemurs have evolved their own distinctive characteristics.

Pat Wright is a professor of Anthropology at the State University of New York.

“There are many things that distinguish them from monkeys and apes, which is the other group of primates — the primate order is divided into lemur-like primates, the prosimians, and monkeys and apes and humans. What makes the lemur different from a monkey? Well lemurs don’t have quite as big brains as a monkey, but they’re very, very beautiful. They also have more emphasis on the sense of smell. They have wet nose, like your dog or cat, and that means that they can smell things better than we can. They’re also not as dexterous with their hands. They can’t do all the manipulation those monkeys do. They’re more in the slow lane, you might say. More laid-back than monkeys. Monkeys can be hyperactive, but lemurs are just kind of enjoying life.

Pulse of the Planet is presented by the American Museum of Natural History. Additional funding for this series has been provided by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.

LEMURS

Their brains may be a little smaller than those of other primates, but lemurs have a particular propensity for taking it easy.
Air Date:08/03/1998
Scientist:
Transcript:

The sounds we're listening to were produced by lemurs, small furry animals with long tails and delicate features who spend most of their time in trees. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by the American Museum of Natural History.

Like humans and chimpanzees, Lemurs are primates. But you'll only find them in one part of the world -- the east African island of Madagascar. Scientists still aren't sure how they got there; one theory suggests that the lemurs drifted from mainland Africa on floating rafts of vegetation. But over the many years since they left their other primate relatives behind, lemurs have evolved their own distinctive characteristics.

Pat Wright is a professor of Anthropology at the State University of New York.

"There are many things that distinguish them from monkeys and apes, which is the other group of primates -- the primate order is divided into lemur-like primates, the prosimians, and monkeys and apes and humans. What makes the lemur different from a monkey? Well lemurs don't have quite as big brains as a monkey, but they're very, very beautiful. They also have more emphasis on the sense of smell. They have wet nose, like your dog or cat, and that means that they can smell things better than we can. They're also not as dexterous with their hands. They can't do all the manipulation those monkeys do. They're more in the slow lane, you might say. More laid-back than monkeys. Monkeys can be hyperactive, but lemurs are just kind of enjoying life.

Pulse of the Planet is presented by the American Museum of Natural History. Additional funding for this series has been provided by the National Science Foundation. I'm Jim Metzner.