Betsileo Woolly Lemur

Open encyclopedia reference

The Betsileo woolly lemur or Betsileo avahi (Avahi betsileo) is a species of woolly lemur native to southeastern Madagascar, in the District of Fandriana. The pelage differs significantly from other southeastern woolly lemurs in that it is primarily light reddish brown on most of the body and grey under the jaw and on the extremities. The pelage is thicker on the head than other eastern woolly lemurs.

This lemur is an arboreal, herbivorous, nocturnal, female dominant nonhuman primate, with a body length of about 48–58.9 cm (18.9–23.2 in), including a 28.3-34.4 cm (11.14-13.54 in) tail, it is weighing about 1 kg (2.2 lb). Avahi betsileo prefers to inhabit humid rainforests, are vertical clingers and leapers.

Wikipedia contributors, Betsileo woolly lemur; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:06:01.470911+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Avahi betsileo Andriantompohavana, Lei, Zaonarivelo, Engberg, Nalanirina, McGuire, Shore et al., 2007

Name authority

Andriantompohavana, Lei, Zaonarivelo, Engberg, Nalanirina, McGuire, Shore et al., 2007

Common name

Betsileo Woolly Lemur

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Primates

Family

Indriidae

Genus

Avahi

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. superfamilyLemuroidea Gray, 1821
15. familyIndriidae Burnett, 1828
16. genusAvahi Jourdan, 1834
17. speciesAvahi betsileo Andriantompohavana, Lei, Zaonarivelo, Engberg, Nalanirina, McGuire, Shore et al., 2007

Close classified relatives

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

Browse 11 records assigned to Indriidae.

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=944083 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.

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:K29N. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.