Black lemur
Amazing fact
Black lemurs have a claw on their hind feet for grooming.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Black lemurs have a claw on their hind feet for grooming.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Black lemur
- Scientific name
- Eulemur macaco
- Japanese name
- クロキツネザル
- Group
- Land mammals
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Primates
- Family
- Lemuridae
- Genus
- Eulemur
It is a primitive kind of primate that lives in northwestern Madagascar. It is active both by day and at night.
Unusually for a mammal, males and females are different colors. Males are black, while females are brown with white hair along the edges of their ears.
It lives in groups where females have the upper hand. A mother raises her baby by letting it cling sideways around her belly, like a belly band.
How the Black lemur lives
They seem to be especially active in the morning and late afternoon. They eat mainly fruit, as well as nectar and bark. In the dry season, they travel over a smaller area and move more slowly. They communicate through scent marks, calls and body language.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Size
- Head and body length: 38–45 cm
- Weight
- 2–2.9 kg
- Active
- By day and by night
- Diet
- Fruit, flowers, leaves, and other plant material
- Range
- Northwestern Madagascar
Where the Black lemur has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- クロキツネザル
- 简体中文
- 黑美狐猴
- 繁體中文
- 黑美狐猴
- 한국어
- 검은여우원숭이
- Español
- Lémur negro
- Français
- Lémur noir
- Deutsch
- Mohrenmaki
- Português (Brasil)
- Lêmure-negro
- Italiano
- Lemure macaco
- العربية
- ليمور أسود
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Lemur hitam
- Tiếng Việt
- Vượn cáo đen
- Русский
- Чёрный лемур
- Türkçe
- Kara maki
- ไทย
- ลีเมอร์ดำ
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 上野動物園 — クロキツネザルChecked: 2026-11-03
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Eulemur macacoChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeWhen you meet the Black lemur, look for this
- Look for them leaping from branch to branch or tree to tree.
- Look closely at their brown or orange eyes.
Animals do different things from day to day, so you may not always see this.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebEXHIBIT INFORMATION
Places that keep or show the Black lemur
Zoos, aquariums and other places whose official websites say they keep or show this animal.
Displays can change with the animals’ health and the seasons. Check each facility’s official website before you go.
RELATIVES
Others in Lemuridae
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