Lemurs are strepsirrhine primates found only on the island of Madagascar. They are named after the lemures (ghosts or spirits) of Roman mythology due to the ghostly vocalizations, reflective eyes, and the nocturnal habits of some species. Although lemurs often are confused with ancestral primates, the anthropoid primates (monkeys, apes, and humans) did not evolve from them. Their brain-to-body size ratio is smaller than that of anthropoid primates, and among many other traits they share with other strepsirrhine primates, they have a "wet nose" (rhinarium). Lemurs arrived in Madagascar around 62 to 65 mya by rafting on mats of vegetation at a time when ocean currents favored oceanic dispersal to the island. Since that time, lemurs have evolved to cope with an extremely seasonal environment and their adaptations give them a level of diversity that rivals that of all other primate groups. Until shortly after humans arrived on the island around 2,000 years ago, there were lemurs as large as a male gorilla. Today, there are nearly 100 species of lemurs, however, lemur taxonomic classification is controversial. Many lemur species are threatened with extinction due to habitat loss and hunting. Although local traditions generally help protect lemurs and their forests, illegal logging, widespread poverty, and political instability hinder and undermine conservation efforts.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemur

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1066:

William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey, completing the Norman Conquest, the last successful foreign conquest of England. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror

1643:

Captain William Mynors of the East India Company vessel, the Royal Mary, landed at an uninhabited island and named it Christmas Island. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_Island

1927:

The Vietnamese Nationalist Party, a revolutionary socialist political party that sought independence from French colonial rule in Vietnam, was formed in Hanoi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viet_Nam_Quoc_Dan_Dang

1989:

Romanian Revolution: Dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife Elena were condemned to death and executed under a wide range of charges. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolae_Ceau%C5%9Fescu

2000:

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law that officially established a new National Anthem of Russia (listen at right), with music adopted from the anthem of the Soviet Union that was composed by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Anthem_of_Russia

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

chiliasm (n): Belief in an earthly thousand-year period of peace and prosperity, sometimes equated with the return of Jesus for that period http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chiliasm

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, his precepts! O! 'tis easier to keep holidays than commandments. --Benjamin Franklin http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin