We are wrapping up our sifaka season with Malagasy scientist and conservationist, Mamy Razafitsalama. Mamy’s work in and around Ankarafantsika National Park, which serves as critical habitat for Coquerel’s sifakas in the wild, recently earned him the 2023 Whitley Award for conservation. We were so honored to hear about Mamy’s work studying sifakas in the […]
Nov 7, 2023
13 min
Sifakas are beautifully adapted to their environment. Dr. Elaine Guevara studies the source of these adaptations in the genetic code of sifakas (and other primates). Elaine shares how she traveled a complex path to get to Duke University and primate evolution – including a stop by the bug department. Now she’s a lecturer in Evolutionary […]
Nov 1, 2023
20 min
Why don’t you see sifakas in most zoos across the US? How do we plan which sifaka have babies, and where those babies will live? DLC Animal Curator Britt Keith not only manages the sifakas living at the DLC, but also collaborates to manage captive Coquerel’s sifakas on an international scale, and she’s here to […]
Oct 25, 2023
20 min
Lemurs can really move. Like jumping-dozens-of-feet-from-tree-to-tree move. Like Tigger on a trampoline move. Dr. Gabe Yapuncich is a researcher at Duke University who is fascinated by this feat of lemur feet. He’s studied lemur bones and watched living lemurs launch off force plates at the Duke Lemur Center to understand how lemurs leap and hold […]
Oct 18, 2023
24 min
Ever wondered what a lemur that is adapted to conditions across the world in Madagascar eats in the forests of North Carolina? Dr. Lydia Greene wondered that very same thing, and in this interview, she shares new information, anecdotes, and insights she gained over years of studying Coquerel’s sifaka foraging habits at the Duke Lemur […]
Oct 11, 2023
22 min
Who better to open this season’s interviews than someone who has spent over a decade caring for Coquerel’s sifakas? Melanie Currie has been a primate technician (AKA animal keeper) at the Duke Lemur Center for 13 years, and we’re so excited to share her insights on these amazing animals with you. Links to learn more: […]
Oct 3, 2023
18 min
Welcome to season three of Aye-aye Pod. We’re finally getting to the lemur that everyone falls in love with when they visit the Duke Lemur Center: sifakas! We’ll introduce you to these bouncy leaf-munchers who had a starring role in Zoboomafoo. We’ll also dig into their amazing diversity in Madagascar and explore the northwestern forests […]
Sep 27, 2023
21 min
In the final episode of our season on ring-tailed lemurs, Matt and Megan are joined by biological anthropologist, paleontologist, and primatologist Dr. Laurie Godfrey. Laurie’s decades-long career searching for fossils and the causes of extinction has taken her across the entire island of Madagascar. In this interview she takes us on a journey through the […]
Mar 22, 2023
15 min
If you’ve read Allison Jolly’s quintessential book Lords and Lemurs, or perhaps you’ve watched the Island of the Lemurs IMAX film, then you already know this week’s guest. Matt and Megan had the privilege of interviewing Professor Hantanirina Rasamimanana, or Hanta, as she prefers to be called. In addition to decades of studying ring-tailed lemurs […]
Mar 14, 2023
15 min
What does it take to care for ring-tailed lemurs a world away from their native Madagascar? Lead Primate Technician Danielle Lynch joins us to discuss the complexities of caring for ring-tailed lemurs at the Duke Lemur Center. Links to learn more: Day in the Life of a Lemur Keeper (video) DLC staff prepare for Hurricane […]
Mar 8, 2023
22 min
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