Hands clasping bird, one dwelling in trees (5)
I believe the answer is:
lemur
'one dwelling in trees' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how one could define the other.
'hands clasping bird' is the wordplay.
'hands' becomes 'lr' (abbreviations for left and right).
'clasping' is an insertion indicator (inserted letters are clasped).
'bird' becomes 'emu' (emu is a type of bird).
'lr' placed around 'emu' is 'LEMUR'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for lemur that I've seen before include "Monkey-like creature of Madagascar" , "Monkey-like aniaml of Madagascar" , "Arboreal animal" , "Tree-dwelling primate" , "Bushy-tailed primate" .)