Over the course of the past decade, there has been an enormous augmentation in the amount of information available on the lemurs of Madagascar. These advances are closely coupled with an increase in the number of national and international researchers working on these animals. As a result, Madagascar has emerged as one of the principal sites of primatological studies in the world. Furthermore, the conserva­ tion community has a massive interest in the preservation of the natural habitats of the island, and lemurs serve as one of the symbols of this cause. Between 10 and 14 August 1998, the XVIIth International Primatology Society (IPS) Congress was held in Antananarivo, Madagascar. For a country that about a decade ago was largely closed to foreign visitors, this Congress constituted a massive event for the Malagasy scientific community and was assisted by about 550 primatolo­ gists from 35 different countries. Naturally, given the venue and context of the Con­ gress, many of the presentations dealt with lemurs and covered a very wide breadth of subjects.

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1. Ancient DNA in subfossil lemurs; A.D. Yoder, et al. 2. Past and present distributions of lemurs in Madagascar; L.R. Godfrey, et al. 3. Skeletal morphology and the phylogeny of the lemuridae; G.F.N. Randria. 4. Support preference of two sympatric lemur species; L. Razafimanantsoa. 5. Field metabolic rate and the cost of ranging of the Red-tailed Sportive Lemur (Lepilemur ruficaudatus); S. Drack, et al. 6. Metabolic strategy and social behaviour in lemuridae; M.E. Pereira, et al. 7. Cathemeral activity of Red-fronted Brown Lemurs (Eulemur fulvus rufus) in the Kirindy Forest/CFPF; G. Donati, et al. 8. Social organisation of the Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemur (Cheirogaleus medius) in Northwestern Madagascar; A.E. Mueller. 9. Demography and floating males in a population of Cheirogaleus medius; J. Fietz. 10. Influence of social organisation patterns on food intake of Lemur catta in the Berenty Reserve; H. Rasaminanana. 11. The importance of the Black Lemur (Eulemur macao) for seed dispersal in Lokobe Forest, Nosy Be; C.R. Birkinshaw. 12. Taste discrimination in lemurs and other primates, and the relationships to distribution of plant allelochemicals in different habitats of Madagascar; B. Simmen, et al. 13. Folivory in a Small-bodied Lemur; T. Mutschler. 14. Conservation of the Alaotran Gentle Lemur; A.T.C. Feistner. 15. Teaching primatology at the University of Mahajanga (NW Madagascar); U. Thalman, A. Zaramody. 16. Lemurs as flagships for conservation in Madagascar; J.C. Durbin. Index.