Ruffed Lemur - Ecology

Ecology

Being highly arboreal and the most frugivorous of the lemurs, they thrive only in primary forest with large fruiting trees, where they spend most of their time in the upper canopy. By spending the majority of their time in the crown of tall forest trees, they are relatively safe from predators such as the fossa.

Ruffed lemurs are active primarily during the day (diurnal), during which time they feed primarily on fruits and nectar, often utilizing suspensory postures while feeding. The seeds of the fruit they eat pass through their digestive tract and are propagated throughout the rainforests in their feces, helping to ensure new plant growth and a healthy forest ecosystem. These lemurs are also significant pollinators of the traveller's tree (Ravenala madagascariensis). Without destroying the inflorescence, they lick the nectar from deep inside the flower using their long muzzles and tongues, collecting and transferring pollen on their snouts and fur from plant to plant. This relationship is thought to be a result of co-evolution.