CreatureData

Red ruffed lemur

Varecia rubra (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812)

CRCritically Endangeredprimates

The red ruffed lemur (Varecia rubra) is a species in the family Lemuridae, order Primates. Recorded adults weigh 3.67 kg to 3.87 kg and live up to 32 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Critically Endangered.

Red ruffed lemur (Varecia rubra)
Photo: Hans Hillewaert · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the red ruffed lemur

Weight
3.67 kg – 3.87 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
32 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Frugivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
37.5 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
100 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
2.2src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
20 months – 21.4 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
1src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
At dawn and dusk (crepuscular)src for Active
Lifestyle
Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Critically Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the red ruffed lemur live?

Not recorded

What is the red ruffed lemur?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The red ruffed lemur (Varecia rubra) is one of two species in the genus Varecia, the ruffed lemurs; the other is the black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata). Like all lemurs, it is native to Madagascar. It occurs only in the rainforests of Masoala, in the northeast of the island. It is one of the largest primates of Madagascar with a body length of 53 cm, a tail length of 60 cm and a weight of 3.3–3.6 kg. Its soft, thick fur is red and black in color and sports a buff or cream colored spot at the nape, but a few are known to have a white or pink patch on the back of the limbs or digits and a ring on the base of the tail in a similar color.

From the Wikipedia article “Red ruffed lemur” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_ruffed_lemur&oldid=1380399053), 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.

What does the red ruffed lemur sound like?

Saberswordsmen1 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Is the red ruffed lemur endangered?

The red ruffed lemur is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces an extremely 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 Critically Endangered species.

How is the red ruffed lemur classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderPrimates
  5. familyLemuridae
  6. genusVarecia
  7. SpeciesVarecia rubra (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812)

Synonyms Lemur ruber, Prosimia erythromela, Varecia variegata rubra

Other names and names in other languages (20)
  • Red-ruffed lemurEnglish
  • Red-ruffed lemurEnglish
  • ليمور مطوق أحمرArabic
  • vari červenýCzech
  • Roter VariGerman
  • Κόκκινος ΛεμούριοςGreek
  • Lémur rufo rojoSpanish
  • Lémur Acollarado RojoSpanish
  • Vari rouxFrench
  • vörös variHungarian
  • Vari rossoItalian
  • アカエリマキキツネザルJapanese
  • Raudonasis varisLithuanian
  • RødvariNorwegian Bokmål
  • Rode VariDutch
  • wari rudyPolish
  • Lémur-vermelhoPortuguese
  • Рыжий вариRussian
  • ลีเมอร์แผงคอแดงThai
  • Варі рудийUkrainian

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the red ruffed lemur

Other species in the same genus Varecia.

CompareRed ruffed lemur vs Black-and-white ruffed lemur

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the red ruffed lemur?

An adult red ruffed lemur weighs 3.67 kg – 3.87 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the red ruffed lemur endangered?

The red ruffed lemur is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.

How long does the red ruffed lemur live?

The red ruffed lemur has a recorded lifespan of 32 years.

How long is the red ruffed lemur pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 100 days.

What kind of animal is the red ruffed lemur?

The red ruffed lemur (Varecia rubra) 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). Red ruffed lemur (Varecia rubra). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-ruffed-lemur

MLA

“Red ruffed lemur (Varecia rubra).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-ruffed-lemur.

BibTeX
@misc{red_ruffed_lemur_2026,
  title = {Red ruffed lemur (Varecia rubra)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-ruffed-lemur},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}