The ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) is the most well-known (or at least most recognizable) of the living lemurs, probably because it is diurnal species and spends a lot of time on the ground. Just because this species is relatively easy to study does not mean it's any less interesting, though. One of the things that I learned while at the Duke Lemur Center is that olfactory signals are extremely important to this species, and the lemur in the photograph is scent marking the chain-link fence with glands on its wrists. This species also has scent glands on the shoulders and genitals, and males often engage in "stink fighting." For those of you who have ever gotten close enough to a lemur to smell one, you'll probably recall that it's not unlike the scent of a high-school gym that hasn't been washed down in about 50 years, and males rub this odor into their tails and waft it at each other until one of contestants bows out.
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Now every time I see a ring-tailed lemur, I can't help but be reminded of Sacha Baron Cohen in his role as King Julian from Madagascar.
I like to move it move it
I like to move it move it
I like to move it move it
Ya like to... MOVE IT!
I also recall ring-tailed lemurs from those movies where they were horribly misplaced from a biogeographical point of view. I remember ring-tailed lemurs making an appearance in Disney's Tarzan (Lemurs in the Congo?), and there was a scene with them from one of the live-action Jungle Book remakes (the one with Jason Scott Lee as Mowgli, IIRC) (Lemurs in India? WTF?)
I have only one word to describe ring-tailed lemurs when they've just made full use of their scent glands: nauseating.