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Today's featured article The ring-tailed lemur is a large strepsirrhine primate. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families. Like all lemurs, it is endemic to Madagascar, living in the gallery forests and spiny scrubland in the southern regions of the island. It is omnivorous, diurnal and highly social, living in groups of up to 30 individuals. Communities are matriarchal, a trait common among lemurs. Like other lemurs, this species relies strongly on its sense of smell and marks its territory with scent glands. As one of the most vocal primates, the ring-tailed lemur uses numerous vocalizations such as alarm calls. Experiments have shown that, despite the lack of a large brain, the ring-tailed lemur can organize sequences, understand basic arithmetic operations and preferentially select tools based on functional qualities. Despite being listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List and suffering from habitat destruction, the ring-tailed lemur reproduces readily in captivity and is the most populous lemur in zoos worldwide, numbering more than 2000 individuals. It typically lives 16 to 19 years in the wild and 27 years in captivity. (more...) Recently featured: Buildings of Nuffield College, Oxford – Tom Derrick – Tom Swift Did you know... From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that the records of many of EMI's popular artists including The Beatles, Cliff Richard and Pink Floyd were manufactured at what is now The Old Vinyl Factory (pictured) in Hayes in Greater London? ... that in one of its last acts, the Sejm of the Congress Poland dethroned Tsar Nicholas I of Russia from his position as the King of Poland? ... that Australian bowler Shane Warne claimed that he had "nightmares" at the thought of bowling to Sachin Tendulkar after being dominated by him in the 1998 Coca-Cola Cup? ... that a fire destroyed the house at Hilston Park, Monmouthshire in 1838 and a Palladian mansion was built to replace it? ... that Clara Holst was the first woman to study for a doctorate at a Norwegian university? ... that Tarsius fuscus was resurrected in 2010 as the scientific name of a primate originally described in 1804?

In the news Police besiege a building occupied by the man suspected of a series of fatal shootings in southern France. Lindsey Vonn (pictured) and Marcel Hirscher win the Alpine Skiing World Cup. George Tupou V, the King of Tonga, dies in Hong Kong at the age of 63. Joachim Gauck is elected President of Germany. Pope Shenouda III, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, dies at the age of 88. Sachin Tendulkar of India becomes the first cricketer to score 100 international cricket centuries. Nicolae Timofti is elected President of Moldova. On this day... March 22: World Water Day 238 – Because of his advanced age, Gordian I was proclaimed Roman Emperor along with his son Gordian II. 1765 – The Parliament of Great Britain passed the Stamp Act, requiring that many printed materials in the Thirteen Colonies in British America carry a tax stamp (pictured). 1920 – A pogrom in Shusha, Nagorno-Karabagh, by Azeris destroyed the Armenian-populated portions of the town. 1933 – The Holocaust: The construction of the first Nazi concentration camp at Dachau was completed. 1963 – Please Please Me, the first album recorded by The Beatles, was released. 2006 – The remaining three Christian Peacemaker Teams hostages were rescued from their Iraqi captors by a multinational force. More anniversaries: March 21 – March 22 – March 23 It is now March 22, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture Noctilucent clouds are the highest clouds in Earth's atmosphere, being bright polar mesospheric clouds illuminated by the Arctic sun from below the horizon, between latitudes of 50° and 70°. They are composed of water ice crystals up to 100 nm across, forming most frequently in the northern summer at altitudes of 76 to 85 km (47 to 53 mi). The clouds form directly from water vapor and sometimes around dust: water may be produced from the reaction of CH4 and OH-, while the dust is believed to originate from micrometeors and possibly volcanic particulate matter entering the mesosphere. The clouds are detectable by radar and the observed increase in these clouds serves as a possible indicator of climate change. Photo: Martin Koitmäe Recently featured: Yttrium – Lime Butterfly Papilio demoleus, Bangalore, India – Sydney Harbour Bridge

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