Kirindy´s six other lemur species have strictly nocturnal habits but adapt to the changing seasons in a variety of ways. Coquerel´s dwarf lemur (Mirza coquereli) and the fork-marked dwarf lemur (Pahner furcifer) are active year-round. The leaf-eating red-tailed sportive lemur (Lepilemur nephicaudatus) - like the sifaka - saves energy during the dry season by reducing its already low activity level and metabolic rate (and presumably its body temperature as well, although we have yet to measure this precisely).


Fat-tailed dwarf lemurs (Cheirogaleus medius) take energy savings to an extreme. These five-ounce animals squeeze an entire reproductive cycle into the rainy season and, during this time of plenty, accumulate enough fat reserves to fuel up to eight months of hibernation. Feeding on high energy fruits and insects, teh lermurs convert most of their food into fat, which is primarily stored in the tail, nearly doubling their body mass. At the beginning of the dry season, small groups of males and females retire into hollow trees, their body temperature and metabolic rate drop, and the animals begin hibernation.