Chapter 6

Of this species there are two forms, aneasternand anorthern, the latter being always smaller in size, with the fur lighter and less rusty. In some varieties the upper surface is dark rusty-red all over, and the inner sides of the limbs pure white. Examples from the north-west coast are constantly smaller; the head rounder, and the facial hairs grey; no white band on the forehead; upper surface bright yellowish-brown; tail rusty-grey; under side of hind-limbs pure white, the under surface and inner side of the arms whitish. The variation in coloration is due to the middle part of the hairs, which in typical specimens is rusty-red, but is yellow in the above-mentioned form. Hands and feet grey.

Young.—Ashy-grey, slightly washed with red.

Distribution.—The Woolly Avahi seems to inhabit only the forests of the parallel ranges of the mountains which face the whole eastern coast of Madagascar; it extends round the bay of Passandava on the west coast, opposite to the northern termination of this eastern range of mountains.

Habits.—This species—the smallest of theIndrisinæ—being essentially nocturnal, is torpid during the day, and is the wildest and least docile of the family. The first specimen of the "Avahi," the name by which this animal is known among the Anatala tribe, was brought to Europe by Sonnerat, the French traveller, in 1781, and nearly half a century elapsed before a second one was obtained. Since then several specimens have been kept in captivity in the different zoological gardens of Europe.

THE SIFAKAS. GENUS PROPITHECUS.

Propithecus, Bennett, P. Z. S., 1832, p. 20; Milne-Edwards and Grandid., Hist. Nat. Madag., Mamm., i., p. 288 (with full synonymy).

The characters which distinguish this genus fromAvahisandIndrisare the following: The fur with which they are covered is more silky than woolly, and in general appearance is white, more or less washed with yellow, varying to red or black. The head is very slightly longer than it is broad, with a black and almost naked muzzle; the ears, half buried in the fur, are flatter and wider than inIndris, the inner surface being naked and black, and the outer haired. The nostrils are large and semilunar in shape. The tail is long. The index-finger is not united by a membrane to the others; their hands and feet are in a much less degree organs of prehension than in most of the other Lemurs.

The skull in proportionate length is intermediate between that ofAvahisandIndris. Compared withAvahisit is less vaulted, its muzzle is longer, and the orbits are smaller. The space between the eyes is high, and not depressed, on account of the presence of a large air-cavity in the underlying bone. Their nasal bones do not reach as far forward in front as the level of the incisor teeth. In the dentition of the upper jaw, the incisors protrude somewhat in front, and are dilated laterally in a regular series—thus distinguishing the genusPropithecusfromLemur,—the inner incisors being larger than the outer ones, with their tips approximating. Between the canine and the anterior pre-molar there is a short gap. The anterior and median molars have the cusps of the crown alternate; the posterior has them opposite. In the lower jaw the incisors are shorter and stronger than inAvahis, and the molars are four-cusped.

The genusPropithecuscontains three species; (1) The Diademed Sifaka (P. diadema), (2) Verreaux's Sifaka (P.verreauxi), both having numerous very marked varieties; and (3) the Crowned Sifaka (P. coronatus).

These species are found all round the coasts of Madagascar; as well in the luxuriant forests on the east side as in the arid deserts and the sparsely-wooded plains of the south-western and western coasts. Of the three species of the genus, one (P. diadema) is confined to the eastern and southern coasts, the other two (P. verreauxiandP. coronatus) are found only on the west coast. More or less distinctly coloured varieties or races of these three species occur, and it is very remarkable that each of them is rigorously restricted to localities distinct from that of the typical species.

I. THE DIADEMED SIFAKA. PROPITHECUS DIADEMA.

Propithecus diadema, Bennett, P. Z. S., 1832, p. 20; Milne-Edwards and Grandid., Hist. Nat. Madag., Mamm., p. 296 (with full synonymy), Atlas, pl. 1-3.

Characters.—Fur long, silky, the muzzle naked. Head shorter and rounder than in the other species of the genus; thumb slender, like the toes, set far back, free; great toe very strong, and in the same plane with the other digits; a marked depression exists in the skull behind the orbits. Body, 21 inches; tail, 19 inches in length.

Forehead crossed by a broad white bar; cheeks in front of the ears, and the under side of the chin, white or fulvous white; face black, with a few short black hairs. Back of head, neck, shoulders, sides of body, outer sides of arms, sometimes grey, but generally very dark brown, merging into dark grey on the lower back. Tail at its root washed with orange-yellow, paler in the middle, greyish-white at its extremity. Fore-arm, lower part of arm, sacral region, and external face of hind-limbs, brightorange-yellow. Hands black-haired to the ends of the fingers, but with long and yellow tufts of hair at the tips. Feet pale orange and haired to the nails. Chest dark brown. Under surface white, or white tinged with yellow, or dark brownish-grey. Internal face of the fore-limbs grey, from the intermixture of black hairs; that of the hind-limbs pale yellow.

Young.—Similar in colour to the adults, but lighter; the frontal band yellow, not white; limbs light yellow.

Varieties.—Several varieties of this species—the "Simpona" of the natives—have been described, of which the following deserve special notice:—

THE SILKY SIFAKA. PROPITHECUS SERICEUS.

Face black, with flesh-coloured spots; the body entirely white, faintly washed with yellow; the base of the tail washed with rust-red. It is of the same size as the type-form, and appears to be only an albino variety. Specimens showing every gradation in coloration between that of the type and the absolute albino are now well known. This form, however, is more or less restricted to the narrow belts of forest on the eastern side of the mountains in the north-east of Madagascar, between the rivers Lokoi and Bemarivo, a region conterminous with that inhabited by the typical species.

MILNE-EDWARDS' SIFAKA. PROPITHECUS EDWARDSI.

Differs from the trueP. diademain having the face slightly haired between the eyes and on the chin; a patch on each flank rufous-white or orange-yellow, separated by a reddish-black band; a spot at the root of the tail bright rusty-red, and all the rest of body black, washed slightly with rufous. The young are like the parents. This form is also of thesame size as the type, but is a melanistic variety, for a series of specimens show every intermediate shade between that here described and theBlack Sifaka(P. holomelas), which is of an entirely black colour, and inhabits, as has been shown by MM. Milne-Edwards and Grandidier, the same region asP. edwardsi.

Distribution.—The typical form of the species is confined to the extended region on the east coast of Madagascar lying between the Bay of Antongil on the north, and the River Masora in the south, in the forest-belts on the eastern aspect of the mountains, where rain falls abundantly and the whole region is covered with luxuriant vegetation. Its melanistic variety (P. edwardsi) extends south from the Masora as far as the Faraouny river, but it ranges to higher and colder altitudes on the mountains; while its albinistic variety (P. sericeus) lives in the somewhat warmer region to the north of Antongil Bay, each being, to south and north respectively, conterminous with the central habitat of the typical form.

II. VERREAUX'S SIFAKA. PROPITHECUS VERREAUXI.

Propithecus verreauxi, Grandid., Album de l'île de la Réunion, iv., pp. 153-162, pls. 1, 2 (1867); Milne-Edwards and Grandid., Hist. Nat. Madag., Mamm., i., p. 305 (with full synonymy), Atlas, pls. 4, 6, 8.

Characters.—Fur short and woolly; face entirely naked; head longer than broad; a well-marked swelling of the skull between the eyes; the upper incisors sub-equal. Smaller and more robust thanP. diadema, the head longer, the hair on the limbs shorter, the tail longer.

Body yellowish-white; a spot on the top of the head dark brown, sometimes washed with rufous, separated from the face by a white frontal bar. Face black; eyes brownish-yellow; interior of ears black, and naked; a grey patch on the middle of the back; outer aspect of the fore-arms, and hind-legs, ashy-grey; rest of the body white. Hands and feet white. Tail yellowish-white. Length of body, 18 inches; of tail, 22 inches.

Young.—Entirely white, with a dark brown spot on the head; the under surface of the body washed with rufous.

Varieties.—Two well-marked varieties of this species are known, both of which were for many years considered to be distinct species. Continued exploration has, however, now resulted in the accumulation in various museums of a large amount of material from many localities, and this proves that the two forms really belong to but one species.

VON DER DECKEN'S SIFAKA. PROPITHECUS DECKENI.

Differs from the trueP. verreauxiin having the face and ears black, and the body otherwise entirely grey, or white, washed more or less with yellow (sometimes rufous on the limbs); or of an ashy-grey colour on the loins, neck, and outer aspect of the limbs; the under side bright rufous; chest and inner sides of the limbs rusty-white, with a fulvous spot at the base of the tail. Specimens from the forests of the interior have a grey spot on the back of the neck expanding into a collar, which is absent in those from the coast. An albino variety comes, so far as is at present known, only from the wooded belts on the extensive plains between the rivers Manambolo and Manjaray, on the west coast.

COQUEREL'S SIFAKA. PROPITHECUS COQUERELI.

(Plate XI.)

Has the face naked and black, but the centre of the nose white; the ears showing as black points amid the white hair; head and back of neck white, slightly washed with yellow; outer side of arm and fore-arm dark maroon-red, the lower border fringed with long white hair; a maroon patch on the upper and outer surface of the thighs, lighter on the chest and central part of the belly. Loins dark rusty-grey; hands white; tail rusty-grey.

Distribution.—Verreaux's Sifaka, with its two varieties, is confined to the small thin woods on the sandy and almost rain-less plains along the western and southern coasts of Madagascar. The type-form is found, alone, and unassociated, in the extensive plains of Mesozoic geological formation—between the southern base of the eastern range of mountains and the River Tsidsubon, which flows into the sea on the west coast. Von der Decken's Sifaka inhabits the middle of the west coast, while Coquerel's Sifaka has its home further to the north. It occupies the area between the south side of Narendry Bay and the north side of Bembatoka Bay, the Betsiboka River being its extreme southern limit.

Though first observed by Flacourt, and described by him in 1661, Verreaux's Sifaka remained practically unknown from that time till re-discovered by M. Grandidier in 1867.

III. THE CROWNED SIFAKA. PROPITHECUS CORONATUS.

Propithecus coronatus, Milne-Edwards, Rev. Scient., 1871, p. 224; id. et Grandid., Hist. Nat. Madag., Mamm., i., p. 316 (with full synonymy), Atlas, pl. 7.

PLATE XI.

Plate XI.COQUEREL'S SIFAKA.

COQUEREL'S SIFAKA.

Characters.—Muzzle very broad and naked; nose-pad wide; inside of ears naked. Face, top of head, sides of neck, and throat, deep brownish-black; muzzle black; a band across the temples, and a streak down the nose, white. Ears black inside, fringed externally with white; neck and upper surface white, washed with rust-colour on the limbs and root of the tail. Tail, hands, and feet, pure white. Under side rich orange-red, darker across the chest; inside of limbs white, washed with rufous. Of the same size asP. verreauxi.

Cranium larger in all its parts than in other species. Nasal bones elongated beyond the incisor teeth; nose very flat, this being due to the large air-cavity (called false nose) in the jaw-bone below, connected with the nose. The length and breadth of the muzzle gives a peculiar expression to the face ofP. coronatus.

This species, like the preceding, is subject to considerable variation.

The whole head is sometimes grey, washed with rufous; the upper surface and root of the tail white, flushed with rust-colour.

In examples living further in the interior than the habitat of the type (Bay of Bembatoka), the back is more rufous, the neck has a large grey or brown patch, and the chest is very dark brownish rust-colour. The abdomen and the inner sides of the limbs are bright red.

Distribution.—This species occurs on the north-west coast of Madagascar, between the Bay of Mozamba to the north and the River Manjaray on the south, ranging over the country to a considerable distance into the interior. The lighter-coloured specimens come from the more northern range of the species, while the more brightly-marked varieties have been obtainedin the interior more to the south. It is curious, remarks M. Grandidier, to find races and species of the same genus so exactly restricted, that one has only to cross a river, not necessarily large, in order to obtain on one bank certain species ofPropithecus, whereas those occurring on the opposite bank may be of a very distinct species or race. To what influence in their surroundings can all these variations be ascribed? One can understand that species inhabiting a wooded and humid country, or living among granitic mountains (asP. diademadoes), would differ in size and fur from other members of the same genus which live in dry and arid plains (as in the case ofP. verreauxi); but how can the great variations that occur in members of the same species living a few miles, and perhaps only a few metres, apart, be explained, when the external conditions are almost the same?

Habits.—The habits of the different species of Sifaka are very similar. They live in companies of six or eight, and are very gentle and inoffensive animals, wearing always a most melancholy expression, and, as a rule, being morose, inactive, and more silent than other Lemurs. They rarely live long in captivity. In their native state they are most alert in the morning and evening, as during the heat of the day they conceal themselves amid the foliage of the trees. When asleep or in repose, the head is dropped on the chest and buried between the arms, the tail rolled up on itself and disposed between the hind-legs. The Sifakas live exclusively on vegetable substances—leaves, fruits and flowers—their diet not being varied, as in the other groups, by small birds, eggs, or insects. Their life is almost entirely arboreal, for which the muscles of their hands and feet, as well as the parachute-like fold of skin between their arms and body, and their peculiarly hook-like fingers, are most fitted. The young one is carried about by its mother on her back, its hands grasping her arm-pits tightly. The Sifakas are held in great veneration or fear by the natives of Madagascar, and are never intentionally killed by them.

PLATE XII.

Plate XII.THE ENDRINA.

THE ENDRINA.

THE ENDRINAS. GENUS INDRIS.

Indris, Cuv. et Geoffr., Mag. Encycl., 2 ed. Ann. i., p. 46 (1796); Milne-Edwards and Grandid., Hist. Nat. Madag., Mamm., i., p. 330 (with full synonymy).

This genus is, like the first of the sub-family, monotypic, no second species having rewarded the many explorers of Madagascar in the long period that has elapsed since its solitary species was discovered. This species is known as

I. THE ENDRINA. INDRIS BREVICAUDATUS.

Indris brevicaudatus, Geoffr., Mag. Encycl., 2 ed. Ann., p. 46 (1796).Indris variegatus, Gray, Ann. and Mag. N. H. (4), x., p., 474 (1872).Indris brevicaudatus, Milne-Edwards and Grandid., Hist. Nat. Madag., Mamm., i., p. 336 (with full synonymy), Atlas, pls. xi.-xii.(Plate XII.)

Indris brevicaudatus, Geoffr., Mag. Encycl., 2 ed. Ann., p. 46 (1796).

Indris variegatus, Gray, Ann. and Mag. N. H. (4), x., p., 474 (1872).

Indris brevicaudatus, Milne-Edwards and Grandid., Hist. Nat. Madag., Mamm., i., p. 336 (with full synonymy), Atlas, pls. xi.-xii.

(Plate XII.)

Characters.—The peculiar features of the species, as given below, are necessarily those of the genus also.

Fur long and woolly, extremely variable in its coloration. Head rounded, longer than it is broad; muzzle moderately long, covered with very short hairs; fingers and toes haired to the finger-tips; external ears rounded, exserted, and more developed than inAvahisorPropithecus, with long and tuftedhair forming a fringe all round. Median nose-pad high and narrow; pupil of eye circular; body elongated; arms about one quarter of the length of the legs; hands very long, the four outer fingers united by a membrane as far as the first joint, and the toes to the centre of their middle segments; hands and feet haired to the tips. Tail rudimentary.

Skull longer and less vaulted; brain-case proportionately more compressed from side to side; the muzzle longer, and the orbit smaller, than inAvahis; floor of orbit higher than the bony margin of the jaw; inter-orbital space flat; nasal bones, though long, not extending in front as far as the end of the pre-maxillary bone; mandible elongated, narrower, and less deep than inAvahis. Bony palate short, posterior margin thickened, and with a foramen behind the posterior molar; line of union of the two halves of the lower jaw shorter than inAvahis; its angle very large. No central bone in the wrist (orcarpus); hind-limb (with or without the foot), compared with the fore-limb (with or without the hand), longer than in any other of the Primates, exceptGalago.Upper teeth: Incisors, sub-equal, set close together and subject to variation in size; canine, vertically taller than, and not separated by a gap from, the pre-molar; pre-molars compressed, and having an inner cusp; anterior molars, four-cusped, with the supplementary cusps weak, and with no oblique ridge; anterior and median, with their outer and inner cusps opposite; posterior molar, which is the smallest grinder of the jaw—four-cusped, with transverse, but no oblique ridges.Lower teeth: Incisors, with marked longitudinal ridges to the outside (peculiar to this genus); pre-molars sub-equal; molars all four-cusped, and the posterior ones expanded behind.

Brain highly organised. A large laryngeal pouch (presentalso in the fœtus), but differing from that of the Apes, is placed between the gullet and windpipe, communicating with the latter by an orifice: main arteries of the fore- and hind-limbs not broken up into arete mirabileof small parallel vessels, as in many species of Lemurs.

Face naked, sometimes blackish, generally dark grey; lips downy; head, neck, back, shoulders, arms, and hands, deep black; fore-arms faintly washed with rufous; a large patch, widening from the middle of the back downwards to the lower back, rump, and root of the tail pure white, washed with orange or red; a patch on each flank, pale, becoming rufous or greyish-white, separated from the rump-spot by black bands continuing down the outer side of the inner face of the thighs, and the front and inner sides of the legs; thighs ashy-grey, their upper two-thirds greyish, becoming black on the front, and ashy-grey on the hinder surface, of the leg. Feet black; tail stumpy, fawn-colour, brownish-grey at the tip; under side rusty brown; abdomen grey; heel rufous.

Many varieties of this species have been met with. Of these, some have the top of the head and between the eyes greyish-white, mixed here and there with black; jaws and throat, grey; ears, neck, back and upper part of arms, black; the fore-arms grey; the hands black; a patch on the lower back ashy-grey; flanks bright rufous; legs grey; band on front of the thighs black; heel bright rufous.

Other examples have a mark over each eyebrow, the fore-limbs nearly to the hands, the hinder part of the thighs, the legs from the knee to the ankle, and the whole under side iron-grey; the ankles and hind part of the heels white, yellow below. (Indris variegatus, Gray.)

All stages between the forms here described and completealbinos are known; so that the various differences observed prove them to be only individual variations of the same species.

Distribution.—The Endrina is confined to the woods looking eastward, on the two high ranges along the eastern coast, between the Bay of Antongil on the north and the River Masora on the south.

Habits.—The "Endrina," "Bàbakòto," or "Amboanala" (Dog of the Forest), as the natives variously name this species, has the same habits as the Sifakas. It is the largest of the Lemurs, and is diurnal. It derives its appellation of "Dog of the Forest" from the doleful, dog-like howls which it utters. In this habit it differs, therefore, from most of the other groups (except the True Lemurs), which are, as a rule, rather silent. Its powerful voice is due to the distensible resonator which it possesses in its laryngeal pouch, described above. Essentially diurnal, the Endrinas live in small companies, and feed only on vegetable diet. The hook-like fingers of their hands are better adapted for climbing than for prehension, and much of their food is, indeed, seized by the mouth. They are entirely arboreal, and move about the trees in an erect position, rarely coming to the ground. The "Bàbakòto" is held in great veneration by most of the native tribes.

M. Pollen gives several other particulars of these Lemurs, and of the curious notions of the Malagasy respecting them. Their native name is "Bàbakòto," literally "Father-child" (or "boy"), not "Indri," as stated by Sonnerat, who discovered the species.Indri, orIndry, is a Malagasy word meaning "lo!" or "behold!" and was probably mistaken by him and other Europeans for the vernacular name of the animal when thenatives exclaimed, "Indry izy!" ("There he is!"). Dr. A. Vinson says that, in passing through the great Eastern forest, he was assailed for two days by the incessant clamour of these Lemurs, which seem to keep together in large companies, but are invisible in the dense foliage. The natives have a superstitious veneration for these animals, and consider them as sacred. They believe that their ancestors change after death intoBàbakòto, and that the trees where these animals live supply infallible remedies against otherwise incurable diseases. The people say that it is very dangerous to kill these Lemurs with spears, because if a spear is hurled against one of them it seizes the spear in its flight without being itself hurt, and in its turn stabs with certain aim those attacking it. They also relate that when the female has borne a young one, she takes the little creature in her arms and tosses it to her mate, who is seated on a neighbouring tree, and that he throws it back to the female. If the little one does not fall to the ground after being subjected to this exercise for a dozen times, the parents bring it up with the greatest care; but, if the contrary event happens, they abandon it, not even troubling to pick it up. In certain parts of Madagascar, says M. Pollen, the people employ theBàbakòtoin chasing birds, and they say that it renders as good service as a Dog. These animals, although principally fruit-eaters, do not disdain small birds, which they catch with much skill, in order to eat their brains.

This Lemuroid is probably the best known to travellers in Madagascar, at least by ear, as no one can travel along the most frequented route in the island, that from Tamatave to Antananarivo, without often hearing the cries of these animals as he passes through the great forest. They are not often seen, but their long drawn-out melancholy cries are frequently heard, astrange wailing sound, as if of people in distress, or children crying. Dr. Vinson says that the Bètànimèna tribe let these animals at liberty if they find them in captivity, and give them burial should they find them dead. They relate that a certain tribe, at war with its neighbours, took refuge in the forests; their enemies, in pursuing them, led by the sound of human voices, as they supposed, found before them a troop ofBàbakòto, at whose appearance they were struck with terror. They fled, persuaded that the fugitives had been changed into beasts. These, on the other hand, vowed eternal gratitude to the Lemurs who had saved them, and have ever since religiously refrained from injuring them in any way.

EXTINCT LEMUROIDEA.

On a former page (anteà, p.13), attention was drawn to the interrupted distribution of the Lemurs, and to their present restricted range to the tropical and sub-tropical regions of Africa, of Madagascar, and of part of the mainland and of the islands of the Asiatic continent. In times geologically not very remote, they were inhabitants of both worlds.

The earliest appearance of the Primates in time is at the beginning of the Tertiary period. Lemuroids, some of them of a more or less primitive type, then lived in Europe in the Lower Eocene period. In the higher beds of the same epoch (to which the fresh-water deposits of the London clay of England, the Plastic clay of France, and the prolific Wasatch beds of Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado of America belong) undoubted Lemurs are represented by many genera, which in the Middle Eocene attained to a great development.

In the Upper Eocene of Europe many distinctivelyLemuroid genera (Adapis,Microchærus, &c.) "formed," as Zittel remarks, "a very characteristic element of the fauna; they are connected with old Tertiary fore-runners, and combine features of the existing Lemurs and true Apes." The presence of these heat-loving animals in such northern latitudes undoubtedly indicates the existence there of a climate more genial at that epoch than now. In the corresponding period in North America remains have been less plentifully found; but for the most part the genera are representatives of those of the European beds.

In strata of Oligocene and older Miocene age no Lemuroid remains have come to light in Europe, and they are represented by only one or two doubtful forms in America. After that date they apparently vanished from the New World and from the northern portions of the Old.

Many of these extinct Lemuroids so combine the characters of theInsectivoraand theUngulata(or hoofed animals), with those of their own Sub-order, that it is often extremely difficult, even impossible, sometimes, to determine to which Order they really belong, owing to a blending of characters due to their common origin. The Upper Eocene forms present many affinities with the South American Capuchin Monkeys (Cebidæ). Dr. Forsyth Major is of opinion, however, that they are more highly, and not (as is generally believed) less specialised than those now living, which appear to have been the subject of retrogressive development.

The species to be noticed below are some of the more important of those which have been ascertained to belong to the present Sub-order.

No remains assignable with certainty to the familiesChiromyidæorTarsiidæ, have as yet been discovered. The first formto be mentioned belongs to a family which has now no living representatives.

FAMILY MEGALADAPIDÆ.

This family has recently been established by Dr. Forsyth Major, for a fossil species represented by the greater portion of a large cranium and part of its lower jaw, found in a marsh at Amboulisatra, on the south-west coast of Madagascar. This species is the only representative of the single genus of the family.

GENUS MEGALADAPIS.

Megaladapis, Forsyth Major, Phil. Trans., vol. 185 B, p. 15 (1894).

The cranium, about 10 inches long, indicates an aged animal three or four times as long as the common Cat, which is an enormous size as compared with any living Lemur. Brain-case straight, narrow, short, low, and situated at a higher level than the facial region; an enormous lateral development of the region between the eyes; orbits small in diameter, communicating freely with the temporal fossa, protruding outwards and forwards, and surrounded by a thickened ring; facial region elongate and bent upward; palate convex downwards from front to back; ridges for attachment of the temporal muscles uniting in a great central crest; frontal bones constricted behind the orbits; maxillary bones behind the molar teeth greatly inflated by air-cavities; the two halves of the lower jaw ossified together. In the upper jaw the pre-molars have one outer and one inner cusp, and the molars one internal and two external cusps, the former being deeply separated from the hind outer cusp, and joined by a ridge to the front outer cusp. In the lowerjaw, the posterior pre-molar has one outer cusp, a fore and hind inner cusp (each joined by a crescent to the outer cusp), and a central inner cusp; the three molars have two outer and three alternating inner cusps, and to the outer side a basal cingulum; the posterior molar has a strongly cusped heel.

Megaladapis madagascariensis, Forsyth Major, the only species of the genus, presents many marsupial and insectivorous characters and features which show some approach towards the South-American Howlers (Alouatta), a specialisation "not in the least," according to Dr. Major, "implying a near relationship, but probably only an adaptation to a corresponding function" implied in the "vocal organs of unusual size," which, he believes,Megaladapisto have possessed. Lemurine characters, however, predominate. In the shape of its molars it is related toLepidolemur, and still more closely toMicrocebusandChirogale, while by the characters of its inter-orbital region it approaches to the Sifakas (Propithecus) and the extinctAdapis.

The small diameter of its orbits suggests, according to Dr. Major, that in habits this extinct giant Lemur was diurnal; and from the conformation of its lower jaw "there exists," continues the same distinguished investigator, "a strong assumption that, as inAlouatta, it was provided with vocal organs of unusual size."

The age of this Howling Lemur, estimated either geologically or by years, cannot be of very great antiquity. Its remains were found associated with those of the giant Moa-like bird, theÆpyornis, of Tortoises and Hippopotami, all now extinct, and of Crocodiles still living in the interior lakes of the island. Some of these animals were certainlycontemporaneous with the now vanished Dodo and the large flightless Rail (Aphanapteryx), both of which were seen alive by Europeans little more than two centuries ago, and it is not improbable that Megaladapis may have been living in the Madagascar forests at the same period.

FAMILY LEMURIDÆ (anteà, p.22).

In this family, and in its sub-familyLemurinæ(because of its affinities withHapalemur), has to be included a large extinct species from Nossi Vey, in North-west Madagascar. Its fossil remains were recently described (P. Z. S., 1893, p. 532), but not named by Dr. Forsyth Major. They will prove, he believes, when more fully known, to be the type of a new genus. At present, however, owing to their incomplete state, it is not possible to describe the species fully. "The Lemuroid nature of the specimen is at once demonstrated by the great elevation and downward bending of the post-orbital processes ... showing that the osseous ring of the orbit was complete." Unusual for a Lemuroid is the very strong post-orbital constriction of the frontals, a character, however, seen inAdapis, an Eocene European form, and inHapalemur. With the latter it agrees in the voluminous cranial and very short facial portion, and the "cuttingly sharp" inferior margin of its post-orbital process. Seen from the side, this fossil cranium is almost vertically truncated behind, as in the skull ofAlouatta. The region between the eyes is vaulted by underlying air-chambers.

FAMILY ANAPTOMORPHIDÆ.

This family includes certain fossil forms of Lower Eocene age from the phosphatic deposits of Quercy in France, theWasatch strata of Wyoming, and the Puerco beds in New Mexico. Their dental formula is the same as that of existing Lemurs, namely I2(2-1), C1(1-0), P(2-3)(2-3), M33. In some of the genera there is a tendency to develop, as Cope has pointed out, large cutting teeth in the position of incisors, "thus approaching the Aye-Aye." The posterior pre-molars are more simple than the anterior true molar, a character which indicates some relationship to the Mouse-Lemurs (Chirogale). The mastoidal or posterior portion of the ear-capsules, and the neighbouring squamosal region of the cranium are swollen, as among the Galagos.

GENUS MICROCHÆRUS.

Microchærus, Wood, Lond. Geol. Journ., i., p. 5 (1846).Heterohyus, Gerv., Zool. et Pal. Fr., p. 202, pl. 35, fig. 14.Necrolemur, Filhol, C. R., lxxxvii., p. 1112 (1873); id. Ann. Sc. Geol., viii., p. 55, pl. iv., figs. 213-217 (1877).

Microchærus, Wood, Lond. Geol. Journ., i., p. 5 (1846).

Heterohyus, Gerv., Zool. et Pal. Fr., p. 202, pl. 35, fig. 14.

Necrolemur, Filhol, C. R., lxxxvii., p. 1112 (1873); id. Ann. Sc. Geol., viii., p. 55, pl. iv., figs. 213-217 (1877).

This genus is distinguished from all other Lemurs by "the angle of the mandible being produced into a large hook-like flange." (Flower and Lydekker.) The orbits are large, indicating a nocturnal animal; the inter-orbital space is wide, and distinguishes it fromLoris. The dental formula is I21, C11, P33, M33. The canine teeth are not prominent; the anterior lower pre-molar is only slightly developed; a gap separates the anterior and the median upper pre-molars.

This genus is represented by five species.Microchærus antiquus(Filhol) is of very small size, and has many affinities withGalago, as exhibited in the well-preserved cranium that has been recovered from the Phosphorites of Central France. The two lower molars have only one root.M. erinaceus,Wood, from the Upper Eocene of Hampshire;M. edwardsi(Filhol), from Central France, a species larger thanM. antiquus, presents dental characters similar to the Galagos and the Mouse-Lemurs;M. parvulus(Filhol), andM. zitteli(Schlosser), are both from the Quercy Phosphorites of France; whileM. armatusis from the Eocene of Alsace, andM. (Cryptopithecus) siderolithicusfrom the Bonerg of Frohnstellen.

GENUS MIXODECTES.

Mixodectes, Cope, Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., p. 447 (1883); id., Rep. U. S. Geol. Surv., iii., p. 240, pl. xxiv. f, figs. 1 and 2.

The members of this genus, founded on fragmentary mandibles from the Puerco (Lower Eocene) strata of New Mexico, have a large front tooth "issuing from the ramus at the symphysis like a rodent incisor, the second tooth being similar but smaller and posterior and external to the first." The genus is represented by two species,M. pungens, Cope, andM. crassiusculus, Cope.

GENUS CYNODONTOMYS.

Cynodontomys, Cope, Palæont. Bull., p. 151 (1882); id., Rep. U. S. Geol. Surv., iii., p. 243, pl. xxiv., fig. 2.

This genus contains but one species, founded on several lower jaws disinterred from the Wasatch beds in the Big-Horn Bad-lands, in Northern Wyoming. The lower incisors, or perhaps, canines, are very large and close to the line of union of the two halves of the jaw; the molars have three cusps in front and a heel behind. The dental characters of the genus "resemble considerably those ofAnaptomorphusandNecrolemur[Microchærus] but the large size of the inferior canineor incisor tooth distinguishes it from both." (Cope.)C. latidens, Cope, is the only species.

GENUS OMOMYS.

Omomys, Leidy, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., vii., p. 408 (1869).

This genus was established for the first Mammalian fossil—a lower jaw—described from the Bridger-beds asO. carteri. The posterior lower molar has cusps in opposing pairs; pre-molars, three in number, the two anterior one-cusped, the posterior two-cusped. The chin was longer and less rounded than inAnaptomorphus.

GENUS ANAPTOMORPHUS.

Anaptomorphus, Cope, Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., 1872, p. 554; id., Rep. U. S. Geol. Surv., iii., p. 245, pl. xxiv. e, fig. 1; xxv., fig. 10.

This genus was founded by Cope on an almost entire cranium discovered in the Bridger (Eocene) beds of the upper Valley of Green river, and on other remains from what is known as the Wasatch formation of the Big-Horn Basin in Wyoming Territory, in North America. The external upper incisor is small and set close to the small canine; the pre-molars have each a large external and a smaller internal cusp; the true molars are wide and have one internal and two external cusps. In the lower jaw the two anterior molars are four-cusped, with a transverse ridge between the anterior pair, and an oblique ridge between the hind inner, and the front outer, cusp; the posterior is three-cusped and has a heel. The orbits are enclosed, as in typical Lemurs. Not less typical characters are the position of the lachrymal foramen, external to the orbit, and the unossified halves of the lower jaw. "Its dental formula (I22,C11, P22, M33) agrees only with theIndrisinæ. But no knownLemuridæpossess anterior lobes and cusps on all the pre-molars, so that in this respect, as in the number of its teeth, this genus resembles the higher Monkeys, theSimiidæandHominidæ, more than any existing member of the family.... It has ... a number of resemblances toTarsius, which is, perhaps, its nearest ally among the Lemurs, although that genus has three pre-molars.... There is no doubt but that the genusAnaptomorphusis the most Simian Lemur yet discovered...." (Cope.)

The species included in this genus areA. æmulus(Cope), which did not exceed the size of a Marmoset or a Red Squirrel, and had short erect incisors;A. homunculus(Cope), a species founded on a cranium without a lower jaw, with the orbits not so large as inTarsius, and the skull wide behind the eyes. "TheA. homunculuswas nocturnal in its habits," according to Professor Cope, "and its food was like that of the smaller Lemurs of Madagascar and the Malayan islands. Its size is a little less than that of theTarsius tarsius."

Two other insufficiently characterised genera, both considered to be primitive Lemuroids, arePlesiadapis, Gervais, containing the speciesP. remensis,P. gervaisi,P. tournesarti, andP. daubrei, from the Lower Eocene strata of Rheims, which have five-cusped lower molars, and enlarged upper and lower incisors; andProtoadapis, Lemoine, with one or two high front cusps, and a low heel to its three pre-molars; the anterior molars with two pairs of opposite cusps, the posterior molar with a fifth cusp on the hind border.P. crassicuspidens, Lemoine, andP. recticuspidens, Lemoine, are its two species.

FAMILY ADAPIDÆ.

The different species associated together under this family are abundantly known from the Upper Eocene of France, England, and North America. They are remarkable in having an extra pre-molar in both jaws, the dental formula being I22, C11, P44, M33.

GENUS ADAPIS.

Back to Index Next