Coquerel's sifaka

The Coquerel's sifaka (Propithecus coquereli) is a diurnal, medium-sized lemur of the sifaka genus Propithecus. It is native to Madagascar. The Coquerel's sifaka was once considered to be a subspecies of the Verreaux's sifaka, but was eventually granted full species level. The dorsal pelage and tail are white, with 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 lemurs hands and feet are black, while the thighs, arms, and chest are a chocolate brown. Like all lemurs, Coquerel’s Sifaka’s have a toothcomb. They use it for grooming and sometimes scraping fruit off a pit. This species occurs at altitudes of less than 300 ft in the dry deciduous forests of northwestern Madagascar, including coastal forests. It occurs from the Betsiboka River, up to the Maevarano River, and are common in large area between these rivers. A extensive survey of the species distribution conducted in 2009, 2010 and 2011 led to the confirmation of its presence in most forest fragments between the two above-mentioned rivers. Nevertheless, its eastern distribution limits are unclear, between the Sofia and Bemarivo rivers, the species has twice been reported to be absent (Table 1). Similarly, the southern part of the inter-river system between the Bemarivo and Betsiboka rivers, where little is known about the presence of the species, requires surveys. Groups of this species have a home range area amounting to 4-9 hectares. A 2014 line transect distance sampling work in Ankarafantsika National Park suggests that population densities ranges from 5 to 100 ind/km²) and significant (negative) effects of road, and forest edge, and/or a (positive) effect of river proximity on densities. The population size may be ~47,000 individuals in the Ankarafantsika National Park. However, the species is frequently seen around villages and in areas dominated by introduced tree species. Coquerel's sifaka has an herbivorous diet that varies by season. In the wet season, it eats immature leaves, flowers, fruit, bark, and dead wood. In the dry season, it eats mature leaves and buds. It may browse nearly 100 plant species, but the majority of its feeding time will be concentrated on about 10% of these. Since it has a very fibrous diet, Coquerel's sifaka has an enlarged cecum and extremely long colon that helps facilitate digestion. These lemurs spend between thirty and forty percent of their day foraging, especially in the morning, midday, and evening. Females often take leadership roles during foraging and exert their dominance by eating the preferred food or denying the males food until they are satisfied. These lemurs are beneficial to the environment because they aid seed dispersion and serve to populate the plant life. Captive Coquerel’s sifkas eat shining leaf sumac and mimosa. Coquerel's sifaka lives in matriarchal groups of about three to ten individuals. It is diurnal and primarily arboreal. Much is known about its behavior from observations in the wild and in captivity.