This species of lemur can be found throughout the tropical dry forests in north-western Madagascar and can be easily spotted in Ankarafantsika National Park.
I would be remiss if I didn’t include Coquerel’s sifaka (shee-fak-ahh) on this list. While doing my research in Ankarafantsika National Park, I followed this endangered lemur through the forest for 14 months straight.
This species, like many lemurs, has a special form of locomotion called vertical-clinging-and-leaping. They live in the trees, and they use their powerful hindlimbs to propel themselves from tree-trunk to tree-trunk, clearing eight-meter gaps in a single leap.
In the trees, they are incredibly graceful. When they descend to the ground, however, their specially adapted hindlimbs make things a little... awkward.
Visitors travel from around the globe, in fact, to see the 'lemur dance', which is the nickname given to the jumping shuffle that this species and others in the same family use while moving on the ground between gaps in the forest.
While most sifaka species engage in a sideways shuffle, Coquerel’s sifaka hops forward, with its arms held high in the air for balance, like some kind of kung-fu Easter bunny.