Lemur

lemur lémur lèmur lemúr Translingual thumb|Ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta species) Etymology From mul la lemurēs spirits of the dead. The name was originally given to the slender loris (then Lemur tardigradus species) in 1754 by Carl Linnaeus. According to Linnaeus, the name was selected because of the nocturnal activity and slow movements of the slender loris. In 1758, Linnaeus added—among others—the ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta species) to the genus Lemur. All other species, including the slender loris, were eventually moved to other genera. In time, the word became the colloquial name for all primates endemic to Madagascar.A. R. Dunkel J. S. Zijlstra; C. P. Groves Giant Rabbits, Marmosets, and British Comedies: Etymology of Lemur Names, Part 1 http://www.aeecl.org/lemurnews/lemurnews2011_16.pdf Lemur News 16 2011-2012 64–70 11 April 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20161106163717/http://www.aeecl.org/lemurnews/lemurnews2011_16.pdf 6 November 2016. Proper noun 1 m genus family Lemuridae ring-tailed lemur Hypernyms genus ; Strepsirrhini suborder suborder; Lemuriformes infraorder infraorder; Lemuroidea superfamily superfamily; Lemuridae family family Hyponyms genus Lemur catta species sole extant accepted species Derived terms Altililemur genus †Archaeolemur genus Eulemur genus Hapalemur genus Lepilemur genus Otolemur genus Pachylemur genus Prolemur genus References Lemur (genus) 1 1 12100055 mul Prosimians German Alternative forms de Lemure Pronunciation de /leˈmuːɐ̯/ de De-Lemur.ogg <<Germany>> (<<Berlin>>) Noun m.weak lemur primate native to Madagascar de Roman mythology in plural lemures spirits or ghosts of the dead Declension m.weak Derived terms de Bambuslemur Further reading Lemuren de Larvae de de Prosimians