The black-and-white ruffed lemur is always both black and white; the general color patterns do not usually vary. Abdomen, tail, hands and feet, inner limbs, forehead, face and crown are black. The fur is white on the sides, back, hind limbs and on the hindquarters. Males and females are alike. They are arboreal, spending most of their time in the high canopy of the seasonal rainforests on the eastern side of the island.