Page:Mammalia (Beddard).djvu/558

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and to some small neighbouring islands. The rest occur in the Ethiopian and in the Oriental region. The rest of the world is at present totally without Lemurs, though, as will be seen in the sequel, the order was more widely spread over the globe in past times.

Fam. 1. Lemuridae.—This family can be usefully subdivided into four sub-families.

Sub-Fam. 1. Indrisinae.—This sub-family is limited to Madagascar, and has been exhaustively treated of by M. Grandidier and Professor Milne-Edwards in the Histoire de Madagascar. These Lemurs contrast with others by the large size of the hind- as compared with the fore-limbs. The ears are short. The tail varies in length. The thumb is but slightly opposable, and the toes are webbed. Correlated with the first two of these characters, these Lemurs when upon the ground progress by means of the hind-limbs, holding their arms above their heads. The number of teeth is reduced, the total being thirty. The formula[1] is I 2/2 C 1/0 Pm 2/2 M 3/3. The colon or large intestine, as figured by Milne-Edwards, has a remarkable watch-spring-like coil, highly suggestive of the Ruminants and of certain Rodents. This, however, is only in Propithecus and Avahis. The caecum in this sub-family is specially large. The brain is characterised by the comparatively slight development of the angular fissure in Propithecus and Avahis; it is in them anterior in position. In Indris it is more -shaped and larger as in Lemur. The parieto-occipital fissure is fairly well developed, so too is the antero-temporal.

The genus Indris has more pronounced external ears than have the two other genera of the sub-family. The tail is rudimentary. The incisors of the upper jaw are sub-equal and set close together, those of the lower jaw have marked longitudinal ridges upon the outer surface, which suggests Galeopithecus (see p. 520). The molars are quadricuspidate. There is but a single species, I. brevicaudata, which is of a black colour, diversified with white upon the rump and the limbs. The term "Indri"[2] means, as does "Aye-aye," "look." One of the native names for the

  1. So at least the formula has been given; but it is very possible that the supposed second incisor is really, judging from the other Lemurs, a canine.
  2. The Malagasy, however, must be vague in definition, or their interpreters not well grounded in the rudiments of the language; for Sonnerat states that Indri signifies "homme des bois."