there is, however, a gap left to mark the Lemurine characters of the animal. The placenta, too, has been compared to that of the Apes. The dental formula is that of the genus Lemur, save for the absence of an incisor on each side of the lower jaw; the number of teeth is therefore thirty-four. The incisors of the lower jaw are upright, and not procumbent as in other Lemurs. The caecum is of moderate length. The brain is almost smooth, but there is a Sylvian fissure and an antero-temporal, which latter does not reach the lower margin of the brain, but divides the middle part of the temporal lobe. The name Tarsier, as may be inferred, was originally given to this creature by Buffon on account of the abnormal ankle, and it was compared by him with the Jerboa, like which animal the Tarsier leaps when it descends to the ground. The genus is Malayan, but its range extends to the Philippines and to Celebes and Borneo. The Tarsiers are nocturnal and particularly arboreal; they live in pairs, in holes in tree stems, and are mainly insectivorous in their food. One, rarely two young are produced at a birth. Contrary to what is found in many Lemurs, the Tarsier is a silent creature, and at most emits a "sharp, shrill call." Dr. Charles Hose, who has studied this creature, has noticed that the mother often carries her young one about in her mouth like a Cat. Like so many Lemurs this animal is held in superstitious dread, which no doubt is the result of its most weird appearance.[1]
Fig. 264.—Right pes of Tarsius spectrum. (Nat. size.) a, Astragalus; c, calcaneum; c1, internal cuneiform; c2, middle cuneiform; c3, external cuneiform; cb, cuboid; n, navicular; I-V, the digits. (From Flower's Osteology.)
Fossil Lemurs.—The Lemuroids are a very ancient race; they extend back to the very earliest strata of the Eocene, the Torrejon and Puerco beds, which, as already said, are thought to be more referable to the Cretaceous than to the Tertiary epoch.
- ↑ For a survey of the position of Tarsius, see Earle, Amer. Naturalist, xxxi. 1897, p. 569; and Nat. Science, x. 1897, p. 309.
