There are many kinds of lemurs, but most have long, pointy noses, which contribute to their excellent sense of smell. Each type of lemur looks very different. They vary color from reddish brown to gray, and come in all different sizes, too. The smallest lemur, the pygmy mouse lemur, weighs only one ounce. But the biggest lemurs, the Indri and Diademed Sifaka lemurs, can weigh up o fifteen pounds, which is about as much as a big cat.
Lemurs use their sense of smell to communicate with each other.
These primates have scent glands on their bottoms and on their feet that leave odors on surfaces they cross. When other lemurs pass by, they smell those odors and can tell that another lemur has been there. Lemurs have big, bushy tails that they wave in the air as another form of communication. These big tails also help lemurs balance when they leap from tree to tree. Most lemurs are arboreal, which means they spend most of their time in trees and bushes.