This page contains headlines from before December 2006. See the main page for more recent news.

As presidential election approaches, Madagascar's lemur sanctuary burns - Mongabay

23 Nov 2006: "Forest fires are burning crucial lemur habitat and other hotbeds of biodiversity in Madagascar according to reports from the northeastern part of the island."

Madagascar's Mouse Lemurs: Three New Species of World's Smallest Primate - Der Spiegel

22 Nov 2006: "Working together with colleagues in Madagascar, scientists at the Institute for Zoology at the University of Veterinary Medicine (TiHo) in Hanover, Germany discovered and classified the animals." Also reported by Mongabay and Nature.

Different coat color may not mean different species for lemurs - Eurekalert

15 Nov 2006: "Surprisingly, the researchers found that although the lemurs appeared to be different species because they were visually distinct, they did not differ genetically." Also reported by New Scientist.

Lemur conservation requires poverty alleviation initiatives in Madagascar - Mongabay

5 Nov 2006: "Charlie Welch, currently a research scientist at the Duke University Lemur Center, recently answered some questions on his experiences in lemur conservation. Welch, along with his wife Andrea Katz, has worked in Madagascar for 17 years and helped transform conservation efforts in the country."

Madagascar is ecotourism heaven: Beautifully bizarre, but isolated island's habitats face a fight for survival - Miami Herald

24 Sep 2006: "Madagascar, the world's fourth largest island, is home to some of the most beautifully bizarre animals and plants on Earth that evolved during 160 million years of isolation in the Indian Ocean."

Leaping lemurs: Come for the stink fights, stay for a song - Miami Herald

24 Sep 2006: "In ringtail troops, squabbles sometimes end in stink fights. Lemurs rub their tails against the scent glands on their arms and armpits and then wave their tails in the direction of their opponents."

Climate Change Threatens Lemurs - Mongabay

19 Sep 2006: "Tropical rainforests are among the most stable environments on Earth, but they are still no match for global climate change. Dr. Patricia Wright, the widely admired primatologist and Professor of Anthropology at Stony Brook University, finds that climate change could mean the difference between survival and extinction for endangered lemurs." Also reported by The Independent.

Literally, flying lemurs (and not dermopterans) - Tetrapod Zoology

8 Sep 2006: "You might be surprised to learn that there is an extensive literature discussing the apparent gliding behaviour of lemurs and other primates, much of it reviewed in Demes et al.'s 1991 paper 'They seem to glide'."

Interview with Dr. Anne Yoder - WCOM-FM

30 Aug 2006: Radio In Vivo interviews Dr. Anne Yoder, Director of the Duke Lemur Center. [MP3 format, 24 MB, run time 1 hr.]

Viv is off to Madagascar - Matlock Today

30 Aug 2006: "Vivyan Lisewski will be arriving on the island on October 5, to take part in a ten week charity project."

Zoological garden welcomes newborns - news.gov.hk

28 Aug 2006: "Six endangered primates - one white-faced saki, three ring-tailed lemurs and two black and white ruffed lemurs - have recently been born at the [Hong Kong] Zoological & Botanical Gardens."

Madagascar is weird and wonderful - Independent Online

14 Aug 2006: "We hiked through dense, untouched rainforest in search of the diademed sifaka and the black-and-white ruffed lemurs that inhabit this park. Along the way, we spotted a large family of tenerics (minute hedgehog-like creatures), exotic birds of all varieties and an astounding array of plants and trees, most of them endemic to Madagascar."

Apes, not Monkeys, Ace IQ Tests - DukeMedNews

1 Aug 2006: "The great apes are the smartest of all nonhuman primates, with orangutans and chimpanzees consistently besting monkeys and lemurs on a variety of intelligence tests, Duke University Medical Center researchers have found." Also reported by Mongabay and the CBC.

Rare indri lemur born in forest reserve in Madagascar - Mongabay

13 Jul 2006: "The birth occurred at Palmarium, a small private reserve of lowland tropical forest established by a tour operator in Madagascar. It is the second birth of an Indri since the opening of the park, according to Fabiola Deprez at Boogie Pilgrim, a tour operator based in the capital Antananarivo."

Slender Loris gasps for survival as urban India expands - Lanka Business Online

27 Jun 2006: "But the biggest threat to the rare nocturnal animal, which has a distinctive a big head, wide brown eyes and is so small it can be held in your hand, is the recent encroachment of human activity on to patches of forest in southern India and Sri Lanka that the primate calls home."

Exotic Animals Found in Tanzanian Mountains - LiveScience

23 Jun 2006: "Other endemic species spotted in the Eastern Arc include two chameleons, a Zanzibar bush baby, the checkered elephant shrew (Rhynchocyon cirnei), and several birds."

Primatologists aim to ape bird watchers - Reuters AlertNet

23 Jun 2006: "'Bird watching is a multi-billion industry and enthusiasts are always ticking new species they see. But no one is doing this for primates,' said primatologist Russ Mittermeier, president of NGO Conservation International."

Malagasy ecoguides hold key to the forest - Reuters AlertNet

23 Jun 2006: "Spotting concealed wildlife in Madagascar's rainforest is a rare skill that 50-year-old Rabarison has honed through a childhood spent playing in the bush and an adulthood spent as an eco-guide."

Three new lemurs take a bow in Madagascar - Reuters AlertNet

21 Jun 2006: "The three new mouse lemurs were officially named in a paper published in June by the International Journal of Primatology and announced at a conservation conference on Wednesday in the Malagasy capital." Also reported by Conservation International and Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo.

Madagascar's Perfumed Isle - MSNBC

20 Jun 2006: "Almost 80 percent of Madagascar's fauna exists only within the water-bound borders of this island nation. Madagascar has been separated from the mainland of Africa for several millennia, and in the splendid isolation of an island world Mother Nature went crazy with the wildlife."

Africa looks to cash in on environment - CNN/AP

20 Jun 2006: "Touting itself as a destination of unmatched natural wonder, Madagascar is protecting its remaining environmental riches in hopes of gaining long-term benefit for its people."

Conference to Address Mysteries of Madagascar's Rich but Threatened Biodiversity - Duke University News Service

13 Jun 2006: "An international group of some three dozen experts will meet here at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center June 14-16 to develop research and conservation strategies for Madagascar, a Texas-sized island off the coast of Africa with a puzzlingly rich history of biodiversity and significant contemporary environmental problems."

African countries brand themselves with eco-labels - ABC News

11 Jun 2006: "'If you look at Madagascar, its nature is its only competitive advantage. It's diverse and unique. There is no other place to go to see lemurs,' said Olivier Langrand, vice-president of U.S.-based Conservation International."

Black and white ruffed lemurs born at zoo - Woodland (Ca.) Daily Democrat

8 Jun 2006: "The Sacramento Zoo is pleased to announce its newest arrivals - one female and two male black and white ruffed lemurs - born to parents, both of which are 7 years old."

Scientists develop first comprehensive theory explaining Madagascar's rich biodiversity - EurekAlert

18 May 2006: "An international team of scientists has developed an explanation for why Madagascar has such a wealth of animals found only on this island."

Do you love lemurs? - BBC

12 May 2006: "A love of lemurs and a passion for presenting are all that are required to assist in the walk-through lemur section of the [Bristol, UK] zoo's brand new monkey enclosure that opens in June."

'Banana-Jawed' Fossil Mammal Linked to Rare Sound-Producing Skill - Duke University News Service

26 Apr 2006: "Further, the team speculated, the animals may have used the balloonlike structural chamber that shaped their bizarre jaws to produce sound.
If this speculation is correct, Thyrohyrax and its fossil relatives would be the only mammals found so far to use such a skeletal structure for producing sound, the researchers said."

The Duke Lemur Center: New Name, New Goals - Duke University News Service

25 Apr 2006: "'Our new name, the Duke Lemur Center, reflects a refocusing of our scientific goals and overall mission,' said Anne D. Yoder, the center's director since Jan. 1." Also reported by the Durham Herald-Sun.

For the Love of Lemurs - Smithsonian Magazine

April 2006: "[Patricia] Wright, a late-blooming primatologist from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, has made lemurs her life, tracking bamboo lemurs and sifaka lemurs that live in a handful of social groups in Ranomafana National Park."

Madagascar Expands Protected Areas Under Visionary Conservation Policy - Conservation International

22 Mar 2006: "A pioneering government plan to protect much of Madagascar's remaining forests has expanded by another 1 million hectares (2.47 million acres or 3,862 square miles), providing new hope that highly threatened species such as black-and-white ruffed lemurs, golden-crowned sifakas and Madagascar serpent-eagles can avoid extinction."

Of Lemurs and Leeches - San Francisco Chronicle

19 Mar 2006: "I was in Madagascar with a group of Earthwatchers who had volunteered to help primatologist Patricia Wright collect field data for a study of Propithecus diadema edwardsi at Ranomafana National Park. Perhaps you know Propithecus by its common name, the Milne-Edwards' sifaka."

Wild Animals of Xeko Mission: Madagascar Set to Invade The Q on Kids Day at Cavs vs. Lakers Game This Sunday - National Basketball Association

16 Mar 2006: "Move over Pokeman and Yu-gi-oh.... There's a new adventure that is going to 'take over the island' in collectible trading card popularity, Xeko Mission: Madagascar (pronounced 'Zeeko')."

Madagascar coming to Chahinkapa Zoo - Wahpeton Daily News

16 Mar 2006: "Some new animals are in route to Chahinkapa Zoo at Wahpeton [North Dakota]. The zoo is acquiring two reindeer, two fossa and five new lemurs. Kathy Diekman, zoo director, said with the fossa and lemurs zoo staff will do a Madagascar and predator-prey theme."

Gladys Porter Zoo researcher tracks wild lemurs in Africa - Brownsville Herald

5 Mar 2006: "Before her African adventure, [Jennifer] Chatfield, senior veterinarian at the Gladys Porter Zoo, grew up in the 4-J Conservation Center outside San Marcos, a home for rare and endangered species and, more specifically, a haven for furry little primates called lemurs."

Three new species of lemurs identified - EurekAlert

22 Feb 2006: "Researchers have identified three new species of lemurs, the small, big-eyed primates native to the island of Madagascar. In a study published today in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology, a team of researchers from Madagascar and Europe identified new species of lemurs based on differences in a specific gene sequence."

New 'Lemurs of Madagascar' book released - EurekAlert

6 Feb 2006: "Written by a team including [Conservation International] President Russell A. Mittermeier and Malagasy primatologists Jonah Ratsimbazafy and Rodin Rasoloarison, the book updates a first edition published in 1994 with subsequent research and genetic studies on lemurs that identified 10 new species and reclassified nine others as separate species."

Angelique the Aye Aye, a Primate Center Triumph - Duke University News Service

26 Jan 2006: "At only a couple of pounds, the gangly creature named Angelique hardly seems like the centerpiece of an historic event in the preservation of her highly endangered species. But the little aye aye is, indeed, just that. She is the first of her species ever born to parents who were themselves born in captivity."

Madagascar seeks investment into ecotourism - Reuters AlertNet

24 Jan 2006: "Madagascar wants foreign investors to set up hotels and tourist facilities in its wildlife reserves to boost revenue for cash-starved conservation schemes, the island's parks director said on Tuesday."

Researcher hears a cry for help from rare silky sifakas - Seattle Times

20 Jan 2006: "It is after 2 p.m. and the dense, hilly rain forest has yet to give primatologist Erik Patel a glimpse of Propithecus candidus, the rare lemur known as the silky sifaka." Also reported by the Boston Globe.

A glimpse behind the vanilla curtain - Financial Times

14 Jan 2006: "Verreaux's Sifaka, the species of lemur that the people of southern Madagascar's Androy region call 'the dancer', has whitish fur and a black face. It looks a bit like a vervet monkey or a Siamese cat, albeit one with the ability to walk on its hind legs."

1 million ha now protected in Madagascar, island home of lemurs - Mongabay

6 Jan 2006: "The government of Madagascar has scored a significant victory for conservation by bringing one million hectares (more than 3,800 square miles) of wild landscapes and seascapes under protection to conserve the island nation's unique fauna and flora, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)." Also reported by EurekAlert.

A world apart - Bangkok Post

22 Dec 2005: "Walking through the jungle, we spotted a lemur napping on a tree. Indri Indri, the biggest of the lemur species, was the size of a human child. It had a stumpy tail and was hugging a trunk enjoying a mid-day rest."

Extinction alert for 800 species - BBC

12 Dec 2005: "Researchers have compiled a global map of sites where animals and plants face imminent extinction. The list, drawn up by a coalition of conservation groups, covers almost 800 species which they say will disappear soon unless urgent measures are taken." Also reported by USA Today.

Furry mascot of RP forest lives on borrowed time - Philippine Explorer

19 Nov 2005: "Hunting and trading in Tarsius syrichta, the species found in the Philippines, was banned in the mid-1990s, when Pizarras flew to Manila with two orphaned tarsier babies to meet Prince Charles, who was in the country, and enlisted the heir to the British throne's support to help save the species."

Duke Primate Center welcomes Angelique - Durham Herald-Sun

14 Nov 2005: "At least that's been the experience at the Duke Primate Center, where diligent matchmakers have been rewarded with the first known aye-aye born in captivity to parents that also had been born in captivity." Also reported by the Raleigh News & Observer.

Swiss name lemur after master of silly walks - swissinfo

11 Nov 2005: "Two Zurich University researchers have discovered a new species of lemur, and named it after Monty Python star John Cleese." Also reported by ABC News and USA Today.

Did Humans Eat Giant Lemur to Extinction? - Discovery Channel

1 Nov 2005: "The first humans that settled Madagascar around 2,000 years ago likely hunted to extinction giant lemurs and other unusual animals from the Indian Ocean island, such as eleven-foot-tall birds, suggests an upcoming study."

Teeth, rainfall linked to primate survival - UPI

31 Oct 2005: "To discover how tooth wear might influence reproduction, Jernvall, Wright and colleagues documented tooth wear in a population of Madagascar rainforest lemurs, called sifakas, during the past 20 years." Also reported by National Geographic News.

Falling from the tree - The Guardian

22 Oct 2005: "Lemurs, the long-tailed, tree-living creatures that share ancestors with man, are fighting for survival in Madagascar - which, apart from the neighbouring Comoros islands, is their only habitat in the world."

New Primate Fossils Support "Out of Africa" Theory - National Geographic News

17 Oct 2005: "Researchers have discovered fossilized remains of two previously unknown primate species that lived 37 million years ago in what is now the Egyptian desert."

Yoder to reinvigorate, expand DUPC - The Chronicle

13 Oct 2005: "Anne Yoder has high hopes for the futures of prosimian primates, large and small, housed at the Duke University Primate Center."

Myakka lemur reserve plans research facility - Bradenton Herald

27 Sep 2005: "The Lemur Conservation Foundation, which occupies 90 acres in Myakka City [Florida], has launched a $3 million fundraising drive to assist with plans for a new Center for Lemur Studies."

More than a zoo - Durham Herald-Sun

25 Sep 2005: "Among the animal kingdom's most spellbinding sights is a troupe of lemurs in the wilds of Madagascar, bounding together from tree to tree so nimbly that they seem to fly in formation." Also reported by the Raleigh News & Observer.

A fragment of Africa set adrift in the ocean - The Observer

25 Sep 2005: "'Welcome to Anjajavy International Airport' reads the sign on a mahogany 'arrivals lounge' no bigger than a poolside cocktail bar - the first of several ironic indicators that this luxurious, fly-in resort is as far from mass tourism as it gets."

Two new lemur species discovered - Eurekalert

9 Aug 2005: "Finding a new species of lemur is rare; this discovery brings the number of known lemur species from 47 to 49. . . The new lemurs were discovered by scientists at the German Primate Center (DPZ) and the University of Göttingen and are described in the current issue of the journal Primate Report." Also reported by the BBC.

Madagascar's unique forest under threat - The Observer

7 Aug 2005: "Up to 1,000 hectares of land and coastal rainforest bordering the Indian Ocean will be dug up in different phases of the £430 million project to extract ilmenite, a mineral which can be used to produce titanium dioxide pigment."

Safe haven for rare lemurs - in Bolton - Manchester Evening News

24 Jun 2005: "Terry [Pearson] has been breeding lemurs, a group of primates which occur naturally only in Madagascar and neighbouring Indian Ocean islands, for 16 years."

Madagascan police intercept illegally logged wood - Reuters

1 Jun 2005: "Madagascan police have intercepted a shipment of more than 500 tonnes of hardwood cut from protected rainforests sheltering some of the world's most treasured wildlife, a government minister said Wednesday."

Ancient DNA Confirms Single Origin of Malagasy Primates - Yale University

27 May 2005: "Yale biologists have managed to extract and analyze DNA from giant, extinct lemurs, according to a Yale study published in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

Ya Gotta Love Lemurs - San Francisco Chronicle

22 May 2005: "'In terms of popularity with visitors, lemurs are in the top 10,' says Nancy Chan, public relations director for the San Francisco Zoo, counting the personable primates among your standard lions, gorillas and bears."

Environmentalists hope a new film will help lemurs - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

6 May 2005: "At the end of this month, DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. will release a new movie called 'Madagascar,' and Conservation International, an aggressive, well-connected American environmental group, wants to make sure the country doesn't let the free Hollywood publicity slip through its opposable thumb and forefinger."

In Search of the Aye-aye - Mongabay

17 Apr 2005: "In late October 2004, I traveled to Nosy Mangabe, which is one of the best places to see wild aye-aye today. The island, forested with tropical rainforest and having a rich history involving 17th century pirates, lies close enough to the town of Maroantsetra for a day trip, though an night-time stay is crucial if you hope to see the aye-aye."

Rare aye-aye born in Bristol zoo - ITV

15 Apr 2005: "Kintana, an eight-week-old Madagascan aye-aye, is the first captive bred aye-aye in the UK." Also reported by the BBC.

Madagascar's conservation conundrum - BBC

11 Apr 2005: "But Malagasy people are among the poorest on earth, the economy desperately needs a boost, and beneath the precious forests are minerals that could make the country wealthy."

Quarter of primates face abyss - BBC

7 Apr 2005: "Of the four global regions inhabited by primates, the worst hit is Madagascar, where loss of habitat to traditional slash-and-burn agriculture has left some lemur species, such as Perrier's sifaka, stranded in tiny areas of the forest."

Mitsubishi Group Offsets Carbon Footprint Through Investment in Madagascar's Rain Forest - Conservation International

25 Mar 2005: "This initiative will offset Mitsubishi's carbon impacts by preventing the release of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere through the protection of a portion of Makira's threatened forests - which naturally store carbon - and by supporting sustainable activities of local communities in the region."

Duke names director of Primate Center, home of lemurs - Durham Herald-Sun

16 Mar 2005: "Duke on Wednesday named Anne Yoder, a Yale professor who spent her early years in Greensboro, as the next director of the center." Also reported by Duke University News Service, The Chronicle, and Yale Daily News.

Male sifaka born last month at zoo - Daily Democrat

10 Mar 2005: "The Sacramento Zoo is pleased to announce its newest arrival - a male Coquerel's sifaka - born to parents, both of which are 14 years old."

Lemurs Thrive in Preserve - The Ledger

6 Mar 2005: "And her research is not the only activity at the Myakka City Lemur Preserve, which is quickly growing from a grassroots nonprofit group to a premiere conservation and research institution, scientists say."

Florida Reserve Aims to Save Endangered Lemurs - Voice of America

23 Feb 2005: "This isolated patch of Florida forest is home to the Lemur Conservation Foundation, one of the few lemur reserves in the world. The reserve opened three years ago, and there are 30 lemurs here." Includes video.

Renowned conservationist's story began with a pet monkey - Newsday

18 Feb 2005: "The astonishing 37-year journey of Patricia Wright from a self-described Brooklyn housewife to a celebrated Stony Brook University anthropologist and primate specialist has led her through the mysterious jungles of three continents."

Malagasy wilderness in the balance - BBC

14 Feb 2005: "Madagascar is fast losing its forest wilderness. But villagers are angered by moves to prevent them cutting down trees in recently created nature reserves."

Tarsier on 'borrowed time' due to lack of govt support - Manila Times

19 Jan 2005: "The Philippine Tarsier Foundation Inc., organized by local businessmen in Bohol, an island of 1.2 million people, runs an 8.4-hectare forest reservation, a sort of Noah's ark where Pizarras and two other forest rangers live near about 100 tarsiers."

Zoo basks in discovery of two lemur species - Omaha World-Herald

11 Jan 2005: "The two newly confirmed species are sportive lemurs living in different types of forest in Madagascar. They are the first new species ever discovered by the Omaha zoo." Also reported by National Public Radio.

Island's wildlife refuge closing - Hinesville Coastal Courier

26 Dec 2004: "The [Wildlife Survival Center] officials said it will continue conservation work, just not on St. Catherines. Lattis said the needs that the center set 30 years ago have been met, adding that current objectives allow the work on St. Catherines and other international programs to be consolidated in the New York area at WSC facilities, including the Bronx Zoo."

Firefighters Called as Lemur Chills Out in Tree - The Scotsman

25 Dec 2004: "Tayside Fire Brigade arrived at the scene around 10am and, after some gentle prodding, the small primate was found to be well -- and started dancing on the branches to prove it."

Madagascar's poor see no benefit from conservation - Reuters

19 Dec 2004: "Since the government created the reserve in 1990, Dimasy says life has been tough for the few hundred villagers of Mahatsara which lies in depths of the 10,000-hectare (25,000-acre) Mantadia forest."

Milestone for 'land of the lemur' - BBC

11 Nov 2004: "It has been called the eighth continent because of its unique wildlife which has evolved in isolation for 165 million years. But Madagascar's biodiversity - including 50 kinds of lemur - is under acute threat from slash-and-burn agriculture in what is one of the poorest countries on Earth."

Lemurs rule the land at Manatee County reserve - Sarasota Herald-Tribune

8 Nov 2004: "Bud and Guinness are among 22 residents of Myakka City [Florida] Lemur Reserve, which suffered through three hurricanes this summer under the weary eyes of the reserve's three-human staff."

Effort to save Madagascar rainforest paying off - Boston Globe

7 Nov 2004: "Led by its president, the Indian Ocean nation of Madagascar is racing to save an environment as precious and fragile as any on earth. . . Environmentalists say the decisive factor is whether a grand bargain can be struck with communities such as those around Andringitra: The residents will help protect natural areas if they can benefit from it, largely through ecotourism."

Zoo update: Ruffed lemurs - Syracuse Post-Standard

12 Aug 2004: "The Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park is celebrating the 10th birthday of male black and white ruffed lemurs, Kinte and Mouse, who were born Aug. 13, 1994."

Biologist Deciphering Complex Lemur Scent Language - Duke University News Service

6 Aug 2004: "In fact, until Drea and Scordato began their studies, scientists didn't even appreciate that ringtails, and perhaps other lemurs, may well have the richest scent language of any primates."

Madagascar's Trees May Be Tied to Lemurs' Fate - National Geographic News

26 Jul 2004: "On the island nation of Madagascar off the southeast coast of Africa, only furry, tree-dwelling primitive primates called lemurs are big enough to move the seeds of many trees around and thus improve the chances of the trees' survival."

Lemur Is First Known Hibernating Primate, Study Says - National Geographic News

23 Jun 2004: "Yet researchers say a small, nocturnal lemur resorts to the same tactic used by bears, squirrels, and dormice to survive cold northern winters -- spending at least seven months of the year hibernating through harsh times brought on by drought." Also reported by New Scientist and Reuters.

Madagascar to honor Stony Brook anthropologist - Newsday

4 Jun 2004: "But for Stony Brook University anthropologist and conservation biologist Patricia Wright, it will be a welcome token of appreciation from a country that has become her second home, and in which she has helped a host of wildlife retain theirs."

Experiments Reveal Startling Insights Into Lemur Intelligence - Duke University News Service

12 May 2004: "But at the Duke University Primate Center, with the gentle touch of his nose to a computer screen, the ringtail lemur called Aristides is teaching psychologist Elizabeth Brannon a startling scientific lesson -- that lemurs are, indeed, intelligent creatures." Also reported by Reuters.

Looking for lemurs - USA Today

30 Mar 2004: "But I didn't -- and you don't -- have to travel half-way across the world to see these creatures. The Duke University Primate Center in Durham, N.C., is home to the largest and most diverse collection of lemurs this side of the Atlantic Ocean."

My Reconciliation with Science - Duke Alumni Magazine

Mar-Apr 2004: "By the time I got to Duke, I was gunning for the Pulitzer, not the Nobel, and I certainly didn't 'hope to study biology,' as I'd claimed. In fact, I hoped never to take a lab class again. I might have managed it, too, if it hadn't been for the Primate Center."

Earthwatch and Napier join fight to save habitat - The Scotsman

24 Jan 2004: Napier University and Earthwatch are sponsoring a Malagasy conservationist to study in the university's wildlife biology and conservation program.

Ancestral primate discovered - The Guardian

1 Jan 2004: "Xijun Ni of the Chinese Academy of Science in Beijing and two colleagues report in Nature today that they have unearthed the partial skull and jaws of the most primitive specimen yet of the mammalian line which gave rise to modern primates..."

Zoo's Green Team Dreams Up Unique Programs - KDLH-TV

29 Dec 2003: "Now you can grace your wall with a work of art by the lemurs residing at the zoo."

Lemur exhibit to open in 2004 - Albany (Georgia) Herald

28 Nov 2003: "The four crowned lemurs in quarantine at the Parks at Chehaw's Wild Animal Park will be among 21 moving into a new Chehaw exhibit that is expected to open in the spring." Also reported by AccessNorthGa.com.

Primate Center gets $4M - The Chronicle

24 Oct 2003: "The University renewed its long-term commitment to the Primate Center, officials announced Thursday, promising an investment of more than $4 million to improve its infrastructure over the next few years." Also reported by the Durham Herald-Sun.

Madagascar to Triple Amount of Protected Space - Reuters

16 Sep 2003: "President Marc Ravalomanana said his government would increase the amount of protected area on the island to 15 million acres from 4.2 million."

Diet researcher asks how now lemur chow? - Duke University News Service

17 Jul 2003: "The larger pile of pounds of food pellets, cabbage and bananas represented a human-sized extrapolation of what the generous technicians had been giving the lemurs -- the equivalent of a pile of Big Macs and fries. And the smaller pile represented the human version of a more reasonably sized diet. Since then, the technicians have monitored more closely the portions they give the lemurs."

Madagascar's Lemurs Cling to Survival - ABC News/Reuters

16 Jul 2003: "The Analamazaotra Reserve, about 85 miles east of the capital Antananarivo, is one of the last refuges of this teddy-bear-like creature [the indri] which spends almost all its time high off the forest floor in trees."

Is This the Smallest Primate on Earth? - National Geographic News

27 Jun 2003: "[Mireya Mayor is] also one of a handful of scientists to perform critical work on the highly endangered silky sifaka and Perrier's sifaka, whose habits remain a mystery to biologists. Recently, Mayor and fellow researcher Ed Louis discovered a new species of mouse lemur that may be the smallest primate in the world."

Top lemur expert grew up here - Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

16 Jun 2003: "Today, Patricia C. Wright tends to look up more than down, scanning the canopy of the Madagascar rain forest. Her work on lemurs -- a primitive primate virtually exclusive to that African island -- draws the attention of scientists all over the world."

The zoo's losers - San Francisco Bay Guardian

7 May 2003: "The new displays are as lofty and grand as the rhetoric of zoo management, which touts conservation-oriented goals in public statements and on banners at the new Lipman Family Lemur Forest exhibit. Yet despite promising to get the animals off concrete and onto grass, during the 1997 bond campaign aimed at funding a massive renovation, management has made few significant changes to the animals' housing conditions."

Fossil teeth reveal oldest bushbabies, lorises - EurekAlert

26 Mar 2003: "The tiny fossils offer evidence that the ancestors of bushbabies and lorises appeared during the Eocene epoch that lasted from 55 million to 34 million years ago -- at least twice as early as previous fossils had shown." A differing interpretation of the find is also reported. Original press releases: [1, 2]

Conservationists play part in lemurs' future - BBC

19 Mar 2003: "The work of Jersey's Durrell Wildlife Trust has helped to ensure the natural habitat of lemurs in Madagascar is protected."

Mammals 'sailed to Madagascar' - BBC

13 Feb 2003: "All mammals on the island of Madagascar are descended from four ancestral species that sailed from Africa clinging to rafts of plant material, scientists have said." Also reported by EurekAlert.

Cuts threaten to close Primate Center - The Chronicle

23 Jan 2003: "The announcement of potential cutbacks to the faculty of the Biological Anthropology and Anatomy department has heightened anxiety about the future of the Primate Center.
Even though the Primate Center is a separate entity from BAA, the proposed cutbacks to the department cast further doubt on the likelihood that the Primate Center will remain at the University." Also reported by the Charlotte Observer.

Primates found popping prenatal drug - New Scientist

22 Jan 2003: "A Madagascan lemur has been revealed as the first animal known to self-medicate when pregnant. Female sifaka eat plants rich in poisonous tannins in the weeks before giving birth, researchers have discovered."

Teaching Zoo's animals available for adoptions - Ventura County Star

22 Jan 2003: "On a recent sunny afternoon, 13 first-graders from Simi Valley gathered around a big cage at the zoo complex, simultaneously sending up an 'ooohh!' when they spied for the first time their adopted lemur."

Mad about Madagascar: mesmerized by a mini-continent - Environmental News Network

15 Jan 2003: "Travelers accept Madagascar's discomforts because the country houses some of Earth's most unique wildlife. In the Spiny Desert, the green tentacle-like branches of "octopus trees" soar 30 feet in the air, while in the mountains, a small insect called the giraffe-necked weevil has a red body and a neck like a cherry picker. But perhaps the strangest creature of all is the Aye Aye, which seems like a fusion of monkey, bat and woodpecker."

[Duke University] Primate Center initiates unique research - The Chronicle

6 Nov 2002: "The Primate Center is especially important because in many cases it houses the only members of a particular species in captivity in the entire world. Since July 2001, at least 42 new research protocols have become active at the center."

Third of primates 'risk extinction' - BBC

7 Oct 2002: "One-third of the world's primate species now face a serious risk of extinction, according to a report by an international group of conservationists."

Researcher Sheds Light on Elusive Lemurs - National Geographic News

20 Sep 2002: "Lemurs are famously elusive, and those [primatologist Mireya] Mayor hoped to study--two types of a sub-species known as sifakas--were so rare that scientists and conservationists didn't know whether they still existed."

Lemurs mount bid for freedom - East Anglian Daily Times

17 Sep 2002: "The cheeky primates have been entertaining visitors even more than usual - by scaling trees to hop over the fence surrounding their enclosure."

Lemurs Will Chew Gummy Bears for Science - Duke University News Service

13 Sep 2002: "Under a new $186,000 National Science Foundation grant, [Duke University Primate Center] director William Hylander and his colleagues will conduct detailed studies of the complex activity or firing patterns of jaw muscles of four lemur species as they chew various foods."

A Promenade with Prosimians - Scientific American

Sep 2002: "We are standing beside a series of spacious outdoor cages at the Duke Primate Center in Durham, N.C., staring at three female red-ruffed lemurs and a black-and-white-ruffed male that is housed with them."

John Cleese visits lemurs at San Francisco Zoo - Daily Llama

13 Jun 2002: "[Actor John Cleese took] the first official tour of the Lipman Family Lemur Forest - a new enclosure that will be the world's largest outdoor exhibit for this endangered species." Also reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Primate ancestor lived with dinos - BBC

17 Apr 2002: "The common ancestor of humans, monkeys, apes and other primates may have arisen much earlier than previously thought.
New research suggests the animals from which humans could have emerged were living in the tree tops 85 million years ago, when the dinosaurs still ruled the Earth."

Primate Center improves conditions, awaits future - The Chronicle

18 Jan 2002: "Six months after serious concerns that it might one day close, the Primate Center has begun upgrading its facilities and research, and has added long sought-after bus service to and from West Campus."

Madagascar biodiversity threatened - BBC

16 Jan 2002: "Most of the 200,000 plus species of plants and animals found here are found nowhere else on earth and the island has been classified as one of the world's top three 'hotspots' for biodiversity."

Conservation International lands major grants - CNN

9 Dec 2001: "Conservation International will receive $261 million in grants [from Intel Corp. co-founder Gordon Moore] in the next 10 years to help save threatened and unique animal species and ecosystems around the world, the Washington-based organization announced Sunday." Also reported by National Geographic News.

Do Pakistan Fossils Alter Path of Lemur Evolution? - National Geographic News

22 Oct 2001: "The finding is controversial because the new evidence suggests that lemurs originated in Asia, not in Africa as commonly believed."
[A competing theory] "is that the fossil teeth belong to a family of Eurasian primates-sivaladapis-that are now extinct."

Fossils Suggest Lemurs May Have Asian, Not African, Roots - Scientific American

19 Oct 2001: "It seemed likely that lemurs originated in continental Africa and later migrated eastward to the island nation. But new data suggests that the charismatic creatures could have Asian, not African, roots. According to a report published today in the journal Science, researchers have unearthed the oldest lemur remains known-tiny teeth some 30 million years old-in Pakistan."

Lemur Laments - Duke Alumni Magazine

Jul-Aug 2001: "Deciding the future of the Duke Primate Center is certainly an extremely complex, and even emotional, endeavor. Ambitions must be balanced with resources, and potentials with realities. But as excruciatingly difficult and multidimensional as the decision process is, it represents only one of many such challenges Duke will face as it heightens its profile among research universities."

Primate Center gets new director - The Chronicle

21 Jun 2001: "William Hylander, professor of biological anthropology, has been given the task of revitalizing the Primate Center as its new director, Provost Peter Lange announced Tuesday.
Hylander will succeed Ken Glander, who will step down July 1 following two reviews of the department that convinced administrators the center focuses too heavily on conservationist programs."

Losing Lovelorn Lemurs - ABC News

31 May 2001: "Romeo is the only member of his subspecies in captivity, and for the past six years he has pined away at Duke University's Primate Center in Durham, N.C., waiting for his Juliet."

Primate Center in flux - The Chronicle

31 May 2001: "Following months of talk surrounding the fate of the Primate Center, the University has decided to devote more resources to the center--at least in the short term--and will likely not renew the contract of current director Ken Glander once it expires June 30. The long-term fate of the center remains uncertain."

Furry Primates at Risk [lorises] - ABC News

9 May 2001: "Not only are these rare primates good at hiding, they're found in remote rain forests of Southeast Asia. That's one of the reasons why no one is sure just how many of these elusive primates are left in the wild."

Newly Discovered Primate in Grave Danger - Wildlife News

March 2001: "The new lemur species was discovered while Duke University Primate Center (DUPC) was on an expedition for the diademed sifaka - a lemur species represented by only one living lemur outside Madagascar housed at DUPC in North Carolina. Compared to diademed sifakas, the lemurs they found were smaller, had different markings, and much longer canine teeth."

New Primates Discovered in Madagascar and Brazil - Environment News Service

26 Jan 2001: "Nine new lemur and two marmoset species have been discovered in the forests of Madagascar and Brazil, scientists announced earlier this month. But the news is not all good - some of the newly named species may already be endangered, joining the dozens of other primate species that may face extinction this century."

Report: 3 new species of tiny primates discovered - CNN

14 Nov 2000: "Three previously unknown species of mouse lemurs, the world's smallest primates, have been discovered in Madagascar, scientists announced this week."
Also reported by the BBC.

Fate of the Primates - The Chronicle

8 Nov 2000: "With the growing jungle of cutting-edge University initiatives, the lemurs of the Duke University Primate Center may find greater competition for survival."

For the Love of Lemurs - Audubon Magazine

Sep/Oct 2000: "As the photo editor for Audubon, I've seen pictures of just about every kind of animal. But something about lemurs long ago captured my fancy. Maybe it's because they don't get the recognition monkeys and other primates do. Whatever the reason, I knew I wouldn't be happy until I had seen them in the wild."

A Fool for Tarsiers - International Wildlife

May/June 2000: "Pizarras started keeping tarsiers more than 30 years ago for his taxidermist father to stuff and sell. But his increasing fascination with the strange animals turned him into an observer and protector of the species."

It's a jungle down there - St. Petersburg Times

25 Feb 2000: "It's a long way from Madagascar to Manatee County, but you wouldn't know it from the sight of the lemurs that make their home in the relative wilds of Myakka City [Florida]."

World's vanishing primates (opinion) - Christian Science Monitor

26 Jan 2000: "Primates - apes, monkeys, lemurs, and their cousins - are our closest living relatives and have long fascinated us. They've also been regarded as bellwethers - so-called flagship species - for the tropical rain forests that shelter them as well as much of our planet's biodiversity."

Primates in Peril - National Geographic

12 Jan 2000: "Twenty-five species of apes, monkeys, lemurs, and other primates are at risk of extinction within the next two decades, according to a report issued January 10 by Conservation International and the IUCN-World Conservation Union (IUCN)."

Last updated 18 Mar 2006