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While many animals are known to ruthlessly purge weakness from within their midst, a new study has found that lemurs have the unique ability to detect the weak by smell alone.

Specifically, a ring-tailed lemur can spot an injured compatriot purely by the odours wafting from their genitals.

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“Our study shows that physical injury from peers dampens an animal’s scent signature, and in a way that its counterparts can detect,” Duke University researcher Christine Drea said in a statement accompanying the new study.

The consequences for an injured lemur — particularly a male lemur — are catastrophic. For an injured male literally reeking of vulnerability, they will quickly find females refusing to mate with them and males targeting them for attack.

Lemurs “respond more competitively when they could easily have the upper hand,” said Drea.

Lemurs are tree-dwelling primates that live in small, “aggressively female-dominant” groups according to the study, published last week on Nature.com.