User:Thine Antique Pen/Sifaka

Sifakas are a genus—Propithecus—of medium-sized lemurs in the family Indriidae.

Bennett, 1832

Taxonomy
The Histoire de la grande isle Madagascar (History of the Island of Madagascar) by Étienne de Flacourt in 1658 first described a Sifaka species as a small white monkey standing on its hind legs with a white tail and two bronze spots on its flanks.

The Malagasy term "sifaka" is derived from the chi-faak hissing sound of species in the verreauxi subgenus, which is emitted in danger. Species within the larger diadema subgenus are called "simpona" after a transcript of their "zzuss" cry of alarm.