Mongoose lemur

Mongoose lemur
Mongoose lemur at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
CITES Appendix I (CITES)[2]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Strepsirrhini
Family:	Lemuridae
Genus:	Eulemur
Species:	E. mongoz
Binomial name
Eulemur mongoz (Linnaeus, 1766)[3]
Distribution of E. mongoz:[1] red = native, green = introduced
Synonyms
Lemur albimanus É. Geoffroy, 1812 Lemur anjuanensis É. Geoffroy, 1812 Lemur cuvieri Fitzinger, 1870 Lemur dubius F. Cuvier, 1834 Lemur johannae Trouessart, 1904 Lemur mongoz Linnaeus, 1758 Lemur nigrifrons É. Geoffroy, 1812 Lemur houssardii Boitard, 1842 Prosimia brissonii Lesson, 1840 Prosimia bugi Lesson, 1840 Prosimia macromongoz Lesson, 1840 Prosimia micromongoz Lesson, 1840 Prosimia ocularis Lesson, 1840

The mongoose lemur (Eulemur mongoz) is a small primate in the family Lemuridae, native to Madagascar and introduced to the Comoros Islands. These arboreal animals have pointed faces, long, bushy tails, dark-brown upper parts, pale bellies, and beards, which are reddish in males and white in females. They live in family groups and feed primarily on fruit, but also eat leaves, flowers, and nectar, with nectar from Ceiba pentandra trees making up a large part of their diet during the dry season. They have declined sharply in numbers because of habitat destruction and hunting, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated their conservation status as "critically endangered".