CreatureData

Black lemur

Eulemur macaco (Linnaeus, 1766)

ENEndangeredprimates

The black lemur (Eulemur macaco) is a species in the family Lemuridae, order Primates. Recorded adults weigh 2.04 kg to 2.49 kg and live up to 30 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.

Black lemur (Eulemur macaco)
Photo: Original uploader was Brocken Inaglory · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the black lemur

Weight
2.04 kg – 2.49 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
30 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
39 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
127 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
1.04src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
18 months – 19.9 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
By day (diurnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the black lemur live?

Not recorded

What is the black lemur?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The black lemur (Eulemur macaco) is a species of lemur from the family Lemuridae. Like all lemurs, it is endemic to Madagascar. Originally, the species was thought to have two subspecies, Eulemur macaco macaco and Eulemur macaco flavifrons, both of which were elevated to species status by Mittermeier et al. in 2008 to Eulemur macaco and Eulemur flavifrons respectively. The most startling difference between the two species is the eye colour; Eulemur flavifrons, the blue-eyed black lemur, has blue eyes, while Eulemur macaco, the black lemur, has brown or orange eyes, and also has ear tufts.

Both species live in northwest Madagascar. The black lemur occurs in moist forests in the Sambirano region of Madagascar and on nearby islands. The blue-eyed black lemur is restricted to the Sahamalaza Peninsula and adjacent forests. There are reports of the two species hybridizing where their ranges overlap in Manongarivo Special Reserve.

From the Wikipedia article “Black lemur” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Black_lemur&oldid=1356979680), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the black lemur endangered?

The black lemur is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species.

How is the black lemur classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderPrimates
  5. familyLemuridae
  6. genusEulemur
  7. SpeciesEulemur macaco (Linnaeus, 1766)

Synonyms Lemur leucomystax, Lemur macaco, Lemur macaco niger

Other names and names in other languages (29)
  • ليمور أسودArabic
  • ليمور حقيقيArabic
  • lemur tmavýCzech
  • MohrenmakiGerman
  • Μαύρος ΛεμούριοςGreek
  • Lemur NegroSpanish
  • mustamakiFinnish
  • Maki NoirFrench
  • Lémur macacoFrench
  • Lémur noirFrench
  • szerecsenmakiHungarian
  • Maki neroItalian
  • Lemure macacoItalian
  • Lemure neroItalian
  • Maki macacoItalian
  • クロキツネザルJapanese
  • KombaMalagasy
  • AkombaMalagasy
  • AnkombaMalagasy
  • Ankomba JobyMalagasy
  • SvartmakiNorwegian Bokmål
  • SvartlemurNorwegian Bokmål
  • Zwarte MakiDutch
  • lemuria czarnaPolish
  • Lêmure-NegroPortuguese
  • Чёрный лемурRussian
  • MormakiSwedish
  • ลีเมอร์ดำThai
  • Kara makiTurkish

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the black lemur

Other species in the same genus Eulemur.

VU, Vulnerable
Red lemur (Eulemur rufus)

Red lemur

Eulemur rufus

Lemuridae

CompareBlack lemur vs Common brown lemurBlack lemur vs Mongoose lemurBlack lemur vs Crowned lemurBlack lemur vs Red-bellied lemur

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the black lemur?

An adult black lemur weighs 2.04 kg – 2.49 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the black lemur endangered?

The black lemur is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

How long does the black lemur live?

The black lemur has a recorded lifespan of 30 years.

How long is the black lemur pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 127 days.

What kind of animal is the black lemur?

The black lemur (Eulemur macaco) belongs to the family Lemuridae in the order Primates.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Black lemur (Eulemur macaco). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-lemur

MLA

“Black lemur (Eulemur macaco).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-lemur.

BibTeX
@misc{black_lemur_2026,
  title = {Black lemur (Eulemur macaco)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-lemur},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}