By Helen BriggsBBC News
The lemurs of Madagascar are at the centre of a new mystery.
Scientists believe the story of how they arrived on the island is more complex than we thought.
After looking again at the fossil evidence, they question the idea that lemurs have been evolving in isolation on the island for 50 million years.
Finding out more about lemurs' ancient history could help conservation efforts.
A recent study found that almost all species of lemur face extinction.
"It deepens the mystery," Erik Seiffert of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, told BBC News.
"It makes it even more important that we try to find out more about the evolution of this group and maybe with some perspective from the past, it will give us some information we can use in the present about how to protect these species."
What do we know about the evolution of the lemurs?
The conventional view is that lemurs arrived in Madagascar 40-50 million years ago, long after it became an island.
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