Coquerel's Sifaka

About the Coquerel's Sifaka

Coquerel's sifaka (Propithecus coquereli) is a diurnal, medium-sized lemur of the sifaka genus Propithecus. It is native to northwest Madagascar. Coquerel's sifaka was once considered a subspecies of Verreaux's sifaka but was eventually granted full species status. It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List due to habitat loss and hunting.

In popular culture, the title character in the children's TV show Zoboomafoo is a Coquerel's sifaka. The species was named after French entomologist Charles Coquerel. The dorsal pelage and tail of Coquerel's sifaka are white, and it has maroon patches on the chest and portions of the limbs. The coat is generally dense. Its face is bare and black except for a distinctive patch of white fur along the bridge of the nose. Its naked ears are also black, and its eyes are yellow or orange. The bottom of the lemur's hands and feet are black, while the thighs, arms, and chest are chocolate brown. Like all lemurs, Coquerel's sifaka has a toothcomb, used for grooming and sometimes scraping fruit off a pit.

This species lives at altitudes less than 300 ft (91 m) in the dry deciduous forests of northwestern... Wikipedia →