It’s obvious, of course, where the ring tailed lemur gets its name. In this shot that tail is on display (along with a few other parts) in all its bushy glory. Some day I hope to get back to southern Madagascar to visit these amazing primates once again.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 200, f/2.8 at 1/40th of a second

Like many of the animals on Madagascar, tomato frogs are endemic to the island nation. This is a male and a female — the female being the large red beast on the right. Obviously, tomato frogs get their name from the females’ appearance. Males are much smaller and more yellowish brown in color. When captured, the tomato frog will release a gummy toxin that closes up the would-be predator’s eyes and mouth and causes it to release its grip. The poison will not kill a human but can cause an allergic reaction. I was sure to photograph only and not touch.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 20mm) ISO 100, f/5.6 at 1/125th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units

One thing about lemurs — they can really jump. This is a common brown lemur that I photographed in the town of Perinet in Madagascar. I was using my usual two-flash set up on a bracket, only this time with my wide angle zoom. The lemurs were very habituated so I could get really close.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 20mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units

Black and white ruffed lemurs are probably the second most well known behind the ring tailed lemurs. They also happens to be the most mischievous (at least as far as I could tell). This one was checking me out as I took a few wide angle shots from directly below. I was using my backup camera with its pop up flash so the lighting isn’t ideal, but it works well enough.
Nikon D40x with Nikkor 18-55mm lens (at 22mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/60th of a second

The white footed sportive lemur is just one of the many species of lemur in Madagascar that are nocturnal. Like all lemurs, they are endangered. In the case of the white footed sportive lemurs, habitat loss due to agriculture and charcoal production are the main problems. Fun fact about these lemurs — they are coprophagous, meaning that they consume and reediest their own feces to help breakdown the cellulose in their food (their diet consists almost entirely of leaves).
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 185mm) ISO 200, f/4.5 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units

Some of you might remember a close up photo of this guy that I posted several years ago. For this shot, I backed up a bit to show the flowers that the juvenile Madagascar reed frog was hiding in. When little (and I mean little — this frog was less than an inch in length) Madagascar reed frogs are completely yellow, but as they age, their backs turns light blue.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 86mm) ISO 100, f/22 at 1/60th of a second, two Nikon SB-800 flash units

This is a paradise flycatcher. The males of the species have very long tails. As the name suggests, they are insectivorous — mainly catching their prey while in flight. I photographed this one on the island of Nosy Mangabe off the east coast of Madagascar. The background is a bit out of focus and motion blurred, but you can see that the bird is perched on a branch over a small waterfall.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 185mm) ISO 400, f/2.8 at 1/60th of a second, two SB-800 strobes

Only two primates have blue eyes. The blue-eyed black lemur and us. I don’t usually post captive animals, but this is a rare exception for this very rare animal. Blue-eyed black lemurs are classified as critically endangered. This means that, in all likelihood, they will soon be extinct in the wild. The current estimate is that there are less than a thousand individuals remaining in the forests of Madagascar. Loss of habitat due to slash and burn farming is the main culprit. I photographed this female (males are completely black) in a free range zoo on the east coast of Madagascar.
Nikon D40X with Nikkor 18-55mm lens (at 46mm) ISO 400, f/5.3 at 1/60th of a second

I was directly under this lemur when it jumped from one tree to another. This species is the rather pedestrian named, common brown lemur. They were very habituated to people at this particular location and were jumping all around me. I used a flash to illuminate the under side of the lemur while still exposing for the much brighter sky in the background.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/100th of a second

A Madagascar flying fox soars overhead in the early morning, before returning home to roost in a tree for the day. These large bats are very cool looking and do, in fact, have little fox faces. For a look at the face, check out this previous post. As I mentioned in that post, I was in the extreme southern part of Madagascar at a place called Berenty when I took this one.
Nikon D200 with Nikkor 80-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 400, f/4.5 at 1/250th of a second