page_title: Pachylemur
section_title: Extinction
hierarchical_section_title: Pachylemur / Extinction
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Fossil of Pachylemur, an extinct mammal- Took the photo at Musee d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris
context_page_description: Pachylemur is an extinct, giant lemur most closely related to the ruffed lemurs of genus Varecia. Two species are known, Pachylemur insignis and Pachylemur jullyi, although there is some doubt as to whether or not they may actually be the same species. Pachylemur is sometimes referred to as the giant ruffed lemur, because although it and the living ruffed lemurs had similar teeth and skeletons, Pachylemur was more robust and as much as three to four times larger. DNA studies have confirmed a sister group relationship between these two types of lemur. Like living ruffed lemurs, Pachylemur specialized in eating fruit, and was therefore an important seed disperser, possibly for tree species with seeds too large for even ruffed lemurs to swallow. In the spiny thickets of southwestern Madagascar, they were also likely to have dispersed seeds evolved to attach to fur and be carried away. Unlike ruffed lemurs, the fore- and hindlimbs of Pachylemur were nearly the same length, and therefore it was likely to be a slow, deliberate climber. However, both used hindlimb suspension to reach fruit on small branches below them.
context_section_description: Humans arrived in Madagascar around 350 BCE, but did not cause the extinction of Pachylemur and the other giant lemurs immediately.  Instead, many human-related factors, such as habitat loss, forest fragmentation, bushmeat hunting, and the introduction of invasive species, along with the gradual desiccation of certain parts of the island, caused their decline and eventual extinction over more than a millennium.  The same factors threaten all living lemur species today.
  The initial decline of Pachylemur began within 500 years of human colonization, but prior to the establishment of large human settlements.  Hunting in the Central Highlands and the spiny thickets likely caused a substantial drop in its population.  Large lemurs, including Pachylemur, survived in the Central Highlands, succulent woodlands, and spiny thickets until around 950 CE.   Based on radiocarbon dating of subfossil remains collected as of 2010, the most recent remains of P. insignis out of 17 dated specimens came from Ankilibehandry in the succulent woodlands and dated between 680 and 780 CE.  Of eight dated specimens, the most recent remains of P. jullyi came from Ampasambazimba in the Central Highlands and dated between 620 and 680 CE.  Pachylemur is generally thought to have gone extinct between 680–960 CE, but remains of P. insignis have been found in Ankilitelo Cave (a pit cave in southwestern Madagascar), which is assumed to be less than 500 years old.
caption: Two P. insignis skulls, Musee d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris
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