Check This Out! Mysterious Lemur Calls

This lemur is a Coquerel’s sifaka (pronounced shee-fauk) , who lives at the Duke Lemur Center. He is displaying the characteristic “sifaka” call for which his species is named. Experts say that if you listen carefully, you can hear the “sh-frrrr-k!” sound.

Postdoctoral researcher Lydia Greene says that sifakas use this call like a serious game of Marco Polo. If a group splits up, one lemur will emit a “lost call” and the others will respond back with a “sifaka call.” This is how they keep in contact with group mates.