Phaner furcifer (de Blainville, 1839)

Phaner furcifer is the darkest of the fork-marked lemur species, and has long, dense fur. The dorsal coat is dark brown and the underside creamy to buffy-gray. The markings on the crown are thick, black and distinct, and the dorsal midline stripe that emanates from the head does not reach the base of the tail. There are no published measurements or weights for this species. The hands and feet are also dark. As with all Phaner, location is the best indicator as to which species is being seen in the wild.
This species is sympatric with several other nocturnal lemur genera, including Microcebus, Cheirogaleus, and Lepilemur. However, it can readily be distinguished from Microcebus by its size, and from all others by its rapid movements, the forked pattern on the crown, the very loud and distinctive vocalizations, and the unusual head-bobbing movements, which are readily visible in the beam of a flashlight.