indris

British  

/ ˈɪndrɪ, ˈɪndrɪs /

noun

1. a large Madagascan arboreal lemuroid primate, Indri indri, with thick silky fur patterned in black, white, and fawn: family Indriidae

2. a related nocturnal Madagascan animal, Avahi laniger, with thick grey-brown fur and a long tail

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Etymology

Origin of indris

C19: from French: lemur, from Malagasy indry! look! mistaken for the animal's name

Example Sentences

Whether this musical overlap between humans and indris is a case of common ancestry or convergent evolution — where our rhythmic abilities evolved independently — remains unclear.

From New York Times • Oct. 25, 2021

From recordings of 346 lemur duets and choruses, Ravignani extracted 636 individual sounds uttered by the 39 adult indris, 20 females and 19 males.

From Science Magazine • Oct. 25, 2021

Dissecting indri songs indicates these animals share an underlying sense of rhythm with humans, but it raises more questions about how indris communicate.

From Scientific American • Oct. 25, 2021

Exploring our commonalities with indris is helping to demystify the evolutionary origins of human music, but it is also bringing much-needed attention to these lemurs who are of incredible cultural importance to the Malagasy people.

From New York Times • Oct. 25, 2021

Their findings applied to all the indris they recorded; females and males sing at different tempos, but both employ the same rhythmic patterns.

From Scientific American • Oct. 25, 2021