Verreaux's Sifaka

Taxobox
name = Verreaux's SifakaMSW3 Groves|pages=121]

---

image_width = 230px
status = VU
trend = unknown
status_system = iucn3.1
status_ref = IUCN2006 | assessors = Baillie, J. | year = 1996 | id = 18354 | title = Propithecus verreauxi ssp. verreauxi | downloaded = 2006-05-11 Listed as Vulnerable (VU A2cd v2.3)]
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Primates
familia = Indriidae
genus = "Propithecus"
species = "P. verreauxi"
binomial = "Propithecus verreauxi"
binomial_authority = A. Grandidier, 1867

Verreaux's Sifaka ("Propithecus verreauxi") is a medium sized primate in one of the lemur families, Indriidae. It lives in Madagascar and can be found in a variety of habitats from rainforest to western Madagascar dry deciduous forests and dry and spiny forests. The fur is thick and silky and generally white with brown on the sides, top of the head, and on the arms. Like all sifakas, it has a long tail that it uses as a balance when leaping from tree to tree. However, its body is so highly adapted to an arboreal existence that on the ground its only means of locomotion is hopping. The species lives in small troops which they forage for food with.

There are four sub species of this kind of lemur. There are many things unknown about Verreaux's Sifaka, so their life span in the wild has not been approximated, but in captivity they generally live to become up to 18 years old.

tatistics

In adulthood the full head and body length is between 42 and 45cm(16.5-17.7in). The tail of a fully grown Verreaux's Sifaka grows to be between 56 and 60cm(22-23.6in) long. In terms of weight, adult females reach 3.4kg(7.5lb) on average, and adult males 3.6kg(7.9lb).

Diet

Verreaux's Sifaka forage for food in the troop it lives in, primarily in the morning and late afternoon, so they can rest during the hottest part of the day. They, like all lemurs, are opportunistic omnivores and so a variety of things can be found within their diet. However, Leaves, fruit, bark and flowers are typical components of it.

Behaviour

They live in family groups, or troops, of 2-12, which may be just one male and female or multimale-multifemale. They have a home range of 2.8.5ha, and although they are territorial, it is the food source they will defend rather than the territory's boundaries, as often boundaries overlap. Females are dominant over males, forming a society using Matriarchy.

They are diurnal and arboreal, and engage in sunbathing with outstretched arms and legs. Verreaux's sifaka move through the trees by clinging and leaping between vertical supports. They are capable of making remarkable leaps through the trees - distances of 9-10m are not uncommon. On the ground, they hop bipedally.

Reproduction

Females give birth to one infant after a gestation period of 130 days, between June and August. For the first 6-8 weeks, the infant clings to the mother's stomach, but for the following 19 weeks, it clings to her back.

Conservation status

Currently this species is considered to be Vulnerable by the IUCN.

References

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/334.shtml BBC facts]

External links

*ARKive - [http://www.arkive.org/species/GES/mammals/Propithecus_verreauxi/ images and movies of the Verreaux's sifaka "(Propithecus verr)"]