Scientists classify lemurs, along with human beings, apes, and monkeys, as primates. Lemurs live only in Madagascar and Comoros, which are island countries that lie off the southeast coast of Africa. Most lemurs live in trees most of the time. They eat fruit, leaves, birds and their eggs, and insects and other small animals. Some kinds of lemurs move about chiefly during the day, and others are active at night.
Lemurs vary greatly in size, color, and appearance.
These brownish or grayish animals look like furry mice. Ringtailed lemurs and ruffed lemurs resemble monkeys, except that they have a long pointed snout. It has a gray back, white underparts, and rings of black and white fur on its tail. Some have reddish-brown fur instead of white. Two monkeylike lemurs, the indri and the sifaka, have long, powerful hind legs.