Sclater’s Black Lemur
Eulemur macaco flavifrons (Gray, 1867)
CR A1cd, B1+2bc

This poorly-known lemur is named after Philip Lutley Sclater, an eminent British zoologist who worked with Alfred Russel Wallace to develop a classification system for the Earth’s major biogeographical regions. Sclater also had the opportunity to examine a male lemur brought to London in 1880, to which he assigned the name Lemur nigerrimus. However, primatologists now believe that this specimen was of the same species or variety described by Gray thirteen years earlier, and which is now referred to as Eulemur macaco flavifrons. Taxonomic confusion persisted for decades because none of the specimens examined had reliable locality data. To clarify the situation, French and Malagasy scientists conducted two expeditions to northwestern Madagascar in 1983-84, during which they “rediscovered” wild populations of Sclater’s lemur. Males are entirely black and females are reddish orange, but both have light-colored, bluish-green eyes, which distinguish this subspecies from the black lemur (Eulemur macaco macaco). The habitat of this lemur is dry deciduous forest, and it also appears to inhabit coffee and citrus plantations that are adjacent to forest. At the present time, it is not found in any protected area and its population probably does not exceed 1,000.