Collared Lemur (Eulemur collaris) Fact Sheet: Physical Characteristics

Body measurements from Donati et al. 2007b

Measurements taken from 28 adults

• Body shape (from Schwitzer et al. 2013 unless otherwise noted)
  • Relatively large lemur
  • Tail
    • Long (Hill 1953)
    • Length exceeds that of the body
• Facial characteristics (from Hill 1953 unless otherwise noted)
  • Face
    • Muzzle
      • Dark gray or black (Schwitzer et al. 2013)
      • Pointed
    • Nose
      • Dark gray or black
      • Broad
    • Ears
      • Partially concealed with hair, though visible
  • Eyes
    • Orange-red in both sexes (Schwitzer et al. 2013)
    • Grayish-whitish spots above the eyes, in some individuals, give the appearance of eye brows
• Adult pelage (from Schwitzer et al. 2013 unless otherwise noted)
  • Brown overall
    • Male and female coloration dissimilar
      • See Sexual Dimorphism, below
    • Stripe of darker hair runs the length of the spine
    • Belly more pale than the back
      • Grey or creamy white
  • Face
    • Ruff of hair on the throat and framing the cheeks
      • See Sexual Dimorphism, below
  • Tail
    • Haired though not “bushy” (Hill 1953)
    • Dark reddish-brown along its length (Hill 1953; Schwitzer et al. 2013)
    • Base often with dark (black) hairs (Hill 1953)

• Sexes similar in size (Donati et al. 2007b)
• Sexually dichromatic (from Schwitzer et al. 2013 unless otherwise noted)
• Male
• Collar reddish-orange or creamy (Johnson 2006; Schwitzer et al. 2013)
• Thick, bushy beard of hair extending around the cheeks (Schwitzer et al. 2013)
• Body hair brownish-gray; lighter than that of the female
• Female
• Collar less developed than that of the male
• Body hair darker and more rufous-brown than that of the male
• Appearance very similar to that of the female white-collared brown lemur

Adaptations

• Adaptations for grooming
• Tooth comb (Schwitzer et al. 2013)
• Tall, slender lower incisors separated with narrow gaps
• Structure projects forward and slightly upward
• Aids in grooming and feeding (Cuozzo and Yamashita 2006)

Other Characteristics

• Chromosome number (from Buettner-Janusch and Hamilton 1979)
• Number variable (polymorphic)
• 2n = 50, 51, or 52
• Most individuals with 52 chromosomes, one study (Buettner-Janusch and Hamilton 1979)
• 2n = 51 likely resulting from hybridization between 2n=50 and 2n=52 members of the species

Male collared lemur.

Image credit: © Howard Brier at Flickr. Some rights reserved.