Lemurs can really move. Like jumping-dozens-of-feet-from-tree-to-tree move. Like Tigger on a trampoline move. Dr. Gabe Yapuncich is a researcher at Duke University who is fascinated by this feat of lemur feet. He’s studied lemur bones and watched living lemurs launch off force plates at the Duke Lemur Center to understand how lemurs leap and hold themselves up in a tree, all to sort out the origins of these adaptations in our oldest primate relatives.  

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The post S3E4 – Bouncy… Like Tigger first appeared on Duke Lemur Center.

Ever wondered what a lemur that is adapted to conditions across the world in Madagascar eats in the forests of North Carolina? Dr. Lydia Greene wondered that very same thing, and in this interview, she shares new information, anecdotes, and insights she gained over years of studying Coquerel’s sifaka foraging habits at the Duke Lemur Center.  

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The post S3E3 – The Magic Hour first appeared on Duke Lemur Center.

Who better to open this season’s interviews than someone who has spent over a decade caring for Coquerel’s sifakas? Melanie Currie has been a primate technician (AKA animal keeper) at the Duke Lemur Center for 13 years, and we’re so excited to share her insights on these amazing animals with you. 

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The post S3E2 – A Lot of Time and Attention first appeared on Duke Lemur Center.

Welcome to season three of Aye-aye Pod. We’re finally getting to the lemur that everyone falls in love with when they visit the Duke Lemur Center: sifakas! We’ll introduce you to these bouncy leaf-munchers who had a starring role in Zoboomafoo. We’ll also dig into their amazing diversity in Madagascar and explore the northwestern forests that Coquerel’s sifakas call home.  

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The post S3E1 – The Dancing Lemur first appeared on Duke Lemur Center.

In the final episode of our season on ring-tailed lemurs, Matt and Megan are joined by biological anthropologist, paleontologist, and primatologist Dr. Laurie Godfrey. Laurie’s decades-long career searching for fossils and the causes of extinction has taken her across the entire island of Madagascar. In this interview she takes us on a journey through the history of the ring-tailed lemur’s native habitat in southern Madagascar and introduces us to some of the giant, extinct lemurs that also called the island home.

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The post S2E5 – So Many Extinct Lemurs first appeared on Duke Lemur Center.

If you’ve read Allison Jolly’s quintessential book Lords and Lemurs, or perhaps you’ve watched the Island of the Lemurs IMAX film, then you already know this week’s guest. Matt and Megan had the privilege of interviewing Professor Hantanirina Rasamimanana, or Hanta, as she prefers to be called. In addition to decades of studying ring-tailed lemurs in their natural habitat, Hanta has also been an incredible advocate for education and opportunities for Malagasy students, and we are honored to share a little bit about her work with you.

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The post S2E4 – What We Have to Do first appeared on Duke Lemur Center.

What does it take to care for ring-tailed lemurs a world away from their native Madagascar? Lead Primate Technician Danielle Lynch joins us to discuss the complexities of caring for ring-tailed lemurs at the Duke Lemur Center.

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The post S2E3 – A Day in the Life first appeared on Duke Lemur Center.

In this episode, Matt and Megan chat with professional researcher, and long-time friend and collaborator of the DLC, Sally Bornbusch, Ph.D. Sally takes us into the fascinating world of microbiomes, and how studying the microorganisms living inside of our beloved ring-tailed lemurs can help us better care for and protect endangered species like them.

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The post S2E2 – Poop Science first appeared on Duke Lemur Center.

From the strangest lemur to the most recognizable – season 2 of Aye-aye Pod is all about ring-tailed lemurs! We see them in zoos around the world, on our screens in films and tv shows, but how much do we really know about these popular primates? In this episode, Matt and Megan set us up for the rest of the season with the basics of ring-tailed lemur ecology, behavior, evolution, and more.

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The post S2E1 – The Poster Child first appeared on Duke Lemur Center.

And… we’re back! Matt and Megan just couldn’t resist diving back in for one more discussion about our favorite primates, so we thought we’d give you a surprise final episode of our first season – just in time for the holidays! We cover everything from the aye-aye’s recent press for a gross hidden talent, to the surprising creature that shares some of the aye-ayes unique traits, to what the fossil record can (and can’t) tell us about aye-aye evolution.

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The post S1E5 – A Series of Random Accidents first appeared on Duke Lemur Center.