Although black lemur males are also black, females are very different in color than female blue-eyed lemurs.
Males are completely black, females vary from reddish-brown to gray.
Infants cling to their mothers' bellies for the first 3 weeks, shifting only to nurse. At approximately 3 weeks of age, the young lemurs will begin spending time away from the mother. With this hint of independence, infants begin to taste solid food, sampling bits of whatever the other members of their group are eating. Nursing continues, in a steady decline in importance in the infant's diet, until the infant is weaned at approximately 5 - 6 months of age. They are reported to live in social groups of between 7 and 10 individuals, although group sizes of between 2 and 15 have been observed.