Any child (or parent) who saw the featured group of singing and dancing lemurs in the animated film “Madagascar” can tell you that the tree-hopping animals are small, furry, and most importantly, cute. Although lemurs don’t sing and dance in real life, they do occasionally reproduce. This week marks the official debut of two new black and white ruffed lemurs born on June 27.

The twins join their protective mother, Maro, and siblings, Huey and Dewey, on exhibit in PECO Primate Reserve. Black and white ruffed lemurs are endangered in their native rain forests of Madagascar due to hunting and habitat destruction. The Philadelphia Zoo supports the Madagascar Fauna Group’s research and reintroduction projects with black and white ruffed lemurs in Madagascar.

“They are just starting to peek out of the nesting box now, so they just going out so people can see them, and hopefully when we get mom away from them in a little bit, we’ll be able to weigh them and see the gender and then meet them,” said Kirsten Wilf Zoo spokesperson.

Lemurs are primates, an order that includes monkeys, apes and humans. There are approximately 32 different types of lemurs in existence today, all of which are endemic to Madagascar, a single island country off the southeast coast of Africa.

“They’re trying to get out and explore a little bit more,” Wilf explained. “They grow very quickly and every once and a while they try to get out of the nesting box and then mom will see that they are out and then pick them up and put them back in.”

Visitors to the Zoo can view the new arrivals during this weekend’s PECO Primate Jungle Days at the Philadelphia Zoo located at 3400 Girard Avenue in Philadelphia on July 28 and July 29 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. PECO Primate Jungle Days are free with Zoo admission. For more information, log onto www.philadelphiazoo.org .