Are Lemurs Primates?

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Are lemurs considered to be a primate? What is a primate and what does a primate consist of? A primate is known for having hands and feet that are very similar to the look of their hands. They also are known for their forward-facing eyes. Primates are not just lemurs. Primates also include prosimians, monkeys, apes, and even humans. The first primate to be developed was a lemur. The word lemur in latin means ghost because lemurs are a nocturnal animal. A Lemur is also an arboreal primate, which meaning that they live in all kinds of trees. All breeds of lemurs have a slightly long pointed snout and typically have a long tail. Lemurs have been around for nearly over 2,000 years (Garbutt 10). This was when they first stepped foot on the islands. Although there are many breeds of lemurs and more still being discovered, they are mostly all found and living in one particular island, and have different characteristics and behaviors than some other animals, they are still considered to be a primate because of their wonderful amazing features.

Lemurs are known as prosimians. The meaning of prosimians is that they are considered to be a pre-primate (Darling 8). In other words, they were one of the first primates to be discovered and that they came before monkeys. Prosimians also means that lemurs are considered to have characteristics that are more primitive than those of monkeys and apes. Lemurs can be characterized as one of the most endangered animals. They are endangered because humans enter there Madagascar rainforest island and started to cut and burn it down. They did this so that they could use the land for farming. Humans also killed and ate the lemurs. With Madagascar being cut down the lemurs were losing th...

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...e during the year. Researchers have found that female coquerel dwarf lemurs mostly starting matting during the month of October. Their development and pregnancy last about 90 days. Like all mammals, lemurs feed off their mothers for milk. And they can live up until the ages between 20 and 25 (Garbutt 52).

From the way lemurs look to the way lemurs act they are indeed primates. They all have many different characteristics as other non-human and human primates. Lemurs behaviors also help demonstrate how they live and survive as a primate. And even though lemurs are known to be endangered species, they are magnificent animals and should not be hunted by people. Their island should be protected to save them and other animals. The way they leap, live in groups, find and hunt food, to the way they nurture their new born makes these primate lemurs amazing mammals.

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