indri

American  

[in-dree] / ˈɪn dri /

noun

plural

indris

1. a short-tailed lemur, Indri indri, of Madagascar, about 2 feet (60 centimeters) in length: an endangered species.

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Etymology

Origin of indri

First recorded in 1830–40; from French indri, Malagasy indry “look!,” wrongly taken as animal's name

Example Sentences

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

Scientists now say they have discovered one of the hallmarks of the skill in the fluffy, black-and-white indri lemur, a species distantly related to humans and only found in Madagascar.

From Science Magazine • Oct. 25, 2021

Elizabeth St. Clair, a biological anthropologist at Johns Hopkins University who studies the evolution of the primate vocal tract, says she was surprised by the rhythmic similarities between indri and human songs.

From Scientific American • Oct. 25, 2021

Around dusk we pulled into the national park, which is home to several species of lemurs, including the Indri indri, whose name simply means “look up” or “look at that” in Malagasy.

From New York Times • Dec. 20, 2010

The indri and the aye-aye may not be with us much longer, but they are here accorded the same curious scientific detachment as studies of, say, the salmon or the pigeon.

From Time Magazine Archive