Which primate has a tail longer than its body and a distinctive ring pattern?

The ring-tailed lemur has a tail longer than its body and marked with alternating black and white bands.

Ring-tailed lemurs are primates native to southern Madagascar. Their tails are not prehensile, so they cannot use them to grasp branches. Instead, the long tail helps with balance and acts as a conspicuous visual signal when groups travel through vegetation.

This species spends substantial time on the ground compared with many other lemurs. It eats fruit, leaves, flowers, and other plant material, with diet varying by season. Groups are led socially by females, a pattern common among many lemur species.

The tail’s rings are one of the easiest identification features, but they should not be confused with the striped tails of some monkeys. Lemurs are endemic to Madagascar and are more closely related to lorises than to monkeys or apes.