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Propithecus coronatus Milne-Edwards, 1871

Scientific name: 
Scientist name: 
Milne-Edwards, 1871
Malagasy: 
Sifaka, Tsibahaka
English: 
Crowned Sifaka
German: 
Kronensifaka
Other english: 
None
French: 
Propithèque couronné

Species

Identification

Propithecus coronatus is a medium-sized, predominantly white sifaka from western Madagascar. It has a head-body length of 39–45 cm, a tail length of 48–57 cm, a total length of 87–102 cm, and a weight of 3.5–4.3 kg (Tattersall, 1982; Mittermeier et al., 1994). The coat is creamy-white, which contrasts strongly with the chocolate-brown to black head, neck and throat. The muzzle is blunt and rounded, and even bulbous in form, and the face is naked and black. The bulbous nose is quite unusual and readily distinguishes this sifaka from all others. There is sometimes a patch of white fur across the bridge of the nose and slight white tufting around the ears. The body coat is variably tinted golden-yellow to golden-brown on the upper chest, shoulders and upper forelimbs. The hindlimbs and tail are white.

The crowned sifaka is easy to distinguish from most other lemurs in its range, but may be confused with Decken’s sifaka (Propithecus deckenii) in areas where the ranges of the two species approach one another or even overlap. Both are predominantly white, but the dark head and bulbous nose of P. coronatus make it easy to tell the two apart. Forms intermediate between the two may also be seen.