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

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

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

It has been 77.5 million years since the common ancestor of humans and indris existed, a chasm of evolutionary time that makes it unlikely rhythm was an ancestral trait.

From Scientific American • Oct. 25, 2021

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

“It seems like it’s an individual characteristic of indris that are not seen in many other mammals or even birds,” says St. Clair, who was not involved in the new study.

From Scientific American • Oct. 25, 2021