The lemurs in the Malagasy mythology

Abstract

Lemurs are one of the most common characters of Malagasy myths and fairy tales. The anthropomorphism of primates is one of the reasons for their mythologization. They act as forest spirits, cultural heroes, totemic ancestors, have the ability to transform into people, imitate their voices and behavior. The attitude towards lemurs is ambivalent, they can act both as human helpers and as monsters that devour people. Most often indris, sifakas, ring-tailed lemurs and aye-ayes are mentioned in myths and fairy tales.