The aye-aye aside, the remaining lemurs diverged into four main groups, starting 39 million years ago. The Lemuridae or so-called “true lemurs” were the first to emerge – today, they include the sociable and distinctive ring-tailed lemurs (left). The Indriidae were next – they include the group’s largest and most vocal member, the indri (middle), as well as the woolly lemurs and the agile, bounding sifakas. The remaining lineage split into the sportive lemurs (Lepilemuridae), and the dwarf and mouse lemurs (Cheirogaleidae; right). The latter include the smallest members of the group. Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur is the smallest of them all – it can weigh as little as 30 grams.

Images by me (ring-tailed lemurs; left), Erik Patel (indri; middle) and Arjan Haverkamp (gray mouse lemur, right)