lemur

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a primate native to Madagascar and nearby islands, typically with large eyes, a pointed face, and a long tail

   A ring-tailed lemur balanced on a branch while the rest of its group searched for fruit.

From Latin lemures ('spirits of the dead'). Linnaeus applied the name Lemur to nocturnal primates in the eighteenth century, reportedly alluding to their ghostlike appearance and nighttime activity. The name later broadened to the related primates native to Madagascar and nearby islands.

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