Critically Endangered
Black-and-white ruffed lemur
Varecia variegata
The black-and-white ruffed lemur is an endangered species of ruffed lemur, one of two that are endemic to the island of Madagascar.
Appearance
The black-and-white ruffed lemur is always both black and white. The general color patterns do not usually vary. Abdomen, tail, hands and feet, inner limbs, forehead, face and crown are black. The fur is white on the sides, back, hind limbs and on the hindquarters.
Together with the red ruffed lemur, the species is the largest extant member of the family Lemuridae, ranging in length from 100 to 120 cm (3.3 to 3.9 ft) and weighing between 3.1 and 4.1 kg (6.8 and 9.0 lb).
Instead of clinging to the mother, offspring are placed into a nest that is guarded by both parents, described in detail below.
Range and habitat
The species inhabits the eastern rainforests of Madagascar. It occurs at low to moderate altitudes, in primary forests with tall and mature trees, and by preference deep inside contiguous blocks of vegetation, although patchy forests are made use of if necessary. The three subspecies have slightly different ranges.
The black-and-white ruffed lemur is an endangered species of ruffed lemur, one of two that are endemic to the island of Madagascar. While predators may be a large threat to the black and white ruffed lemur, the principal threat to their survival comes from the human inhabitants of the island.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
Wild black-and-white ruffed lemurs have a highly frugivorous diet, with fruit making up 92% of their overall diet. Their diet is also influenced by the seasons, with certain plant parts and fruits only ripening or becoming available during certain times of the year.
Water consumption also varies throughout the year and can be influenced by diet. The larger part of fruit items in the diet is provided by four taxa of fruit trees: Ravensara species, Chrysophyllum boivinianum, Protorhus species, and Harungana madagascariensis. Both males and females reach sexual maturity between the ages of 1.5 and 3 years, although breeding is not necessarily successful during the first year of maturity.
In crisis
Despite having a larger range than the red ruffed lemur, it has a much smaller population that is spread out, living in lower population densities and reproductively isolated. It had around 29–43 individuals/km2. Next in decreasing order came Anatanamatazo with 10–15 individuals/km2, and then Manomba with.4-2.5 individuals/km2.
Another threat to the lemurs is the agricultural practices of the local community. Nesting behavior poses the greatest risks for predation, especially mammalian predators.
CITES lists this taxon on Appendix I. Confirm the current appendix on the CITES checklist.
Black-and-white ruffed lemur is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Black-and-white ruffed lemur, Wikidata item Q998074. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
