Masoala Fork-crowned Lemur

Open encyclopedia reference

The Masoala fork-marked lemur (Phaner furcifer), also known as the eastern fork-marked lemur or Masoala fork-crowned lemur, is a species of lemur found in the coastal forests of northeastern Madagascar. It is a small nocturnal animal with large eyes, greyish fur and a long tail.

P. furcifer is a specialist feeder on the gum that exudes from insect holes on the surface of certain trees, but it supplements its gum diet with insect prey. This primate is monogamous and a single offspring is born in November or December. It is declining in numbers due to habitat destruction, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being endangered.

Wikipedia contributors, Masoala fork-marked lemur; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T11:27:30.993505+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Phaner furcifer (de Blainville, 1839)

Name authority

(de Blainville, 1839)

Common name

Masoala Fork-crowned Lemur

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Primates

Family

Cheirogaleidae

Genus

Phaner

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderPrimates Linnaeus, 1758
12. suborderStrepsirrhini É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1812
13. infraorderLemuriformes Gray, 1821
14. superfamilyCheirogaleoidea Gray, 1873
15. familyCheirogaleidae Gray, 1873
16. genusPhaner Gray, 1870
17. speciesPhaner furcifer (de Blainville, 1839)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Phaner. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 39 records assigned to Cheirogaleidae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=572863 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4FSQ7. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.