Over fifty million years ago, similarly to Darwin's finches, the ancestors of today's lemurs were isolated on one of the biggest islands in the world, Madagascar. Isolated from any monkeys or apes and most predators, these lemurs proliferated and diversified, evolving into twenty eight species. However, many of these species have been wiped out by human activity such as deforestation. The black lemur is unique among lemurs in that, males and females are different colors. Its name comes from the coloration of the male, which is uniformly black, while the female is a dark brown to rust color with white undersides. This difference in appearance is so striking that for many years, males and females were thought to be different species. There are taboos against killing them, but as the natural forests are replaced by plantations, this protection disappears. They are poisoned, or shot as pests. Today they are an endangered species and are confined to a small area on Madagascar and two small islands off its northwest coast. On one island they have the benefit of a reserve of natural forest. Black lemurs are legally protected and international trade is strictly controlled, but on those plantations where they flourish their capture for zoos is permitted. The most unique among lemurs, black lemurs are sexually dimorphic and are one of the few surviving lemurs in the world today.
Known as the black lemur, it is classified under the class of mammalian, in the order of primates, in the family of Lemuridae, under the Genus of Eulemur, under the species of Eulemur macaco, and scientifically named Eulemur macaco macaco. The species Eulemur macaco consists of two subspecies: Eulemur macaco macaco and Eulemur macaco flavifrons (Williams). "In Madagascar, the two subspecies are separated by the Andranomalaza River, but clear separation only occurs in a relatively small area. E. m. macaco can be found to the north of the river and E.
