Crowned lemurs have an orange V-shaped pattern on the top of their heads, giving the species its common name. Males are dark brown-gray with a dark tail, gray face and black nose.
Females are distinctly lighter in color with mostly gray hair fading to off white on their bellies.
Single infants and twins seem to be equally common. Infants cling to their mothers' bellies for the first 3 weeks, shifting only to nurse. At approximately 5 weeks of age, the young lemurs will take their first tentative steps. 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.