Part 8

CHARACTERS.--"Similar to _L. ruficaudatus_; upper part of head grey; ears membranaceous, but encircled on the inner and posterior side by an incomplete belt of dark brown colour, which distinguishes the species from _L. ruficaudatus_; shoulders and outer side of the fore-limbs reddish-brown. Back greyish-brown, lighter on the outer side of the hind-limbs; an uninterrupted dark dorsal streak from the middle of the back to the centre of {88}the forehead is very conspicuous between the shoulders. Breast, inner sides of the fore- and hind-limbs, and lower surface of the body greyish-white.

"The skull long and narrow; molars and pre-molars large, especially transversely; orbits small, yet larger than in _L. ruficaudatus_; the mastoidal portion of the ear-capsules and squamosal region of the skull conspicuously inflated. Bony palate more elongate than in _L. mustelinus_; par-occipital process present."

DISTRIBUTION.--Betsako, north-west of Madagascar.

IV. THE SMALL-TOOTHED SPORTIVE-LEMUR. LEPIDOLEMUR MICRODON.

_Lepidolemur microdon_, Forsyth Major.

CHARACTERS.--"Somewhat similar to the Weasel-like Lemur (_L. mustelinus_) in coloration, but having the back and the outer portion of the shoulder and fore-limbs bright chestnut, passing into russet on the back (darker between the shoulders), on the outer parts of the hind-limbs and tail, as well as on the top of the head, where it is washed with greyish. A dark, dorsal stripe from the centre of the forehead to the middle of the back, where it is darkest. Breast and under surface of body yellowish-grey.

"Skull markedly distinguished from that of the other species by the small size of the molars; pre-molars not diminished in size; a depression at the base of the nasals; the bony palate more elongated than in _L. mustelinus_."

DISTRIBUTION.--The eastern districts of the Betsileo province, Central Madagascar.

PLATE IX.

{89}SECTION B. (SPECIES MINORES.)

V. THE ROUND-HEADED SPORTIVE-LEMUR. LEPIDOLEMUR GLOBICEPS.

_Lepidolemur globiceps_, Forsyth Major.

CHARACTERS.--"The smallest of the Sportive-Lemurs. Similar to _Lepidolemur ruficaudatus_, but less rufous down the fore-limbs; the tail drab colour.

"Skull very characteristic; the brain-case broad, high, and globose, the facial region short; the premaxillæ more reduced than in any other species; the external auditory channel very large; the occipital region less vertical than in the species of Section A."

DISTRIBUTION.--Ambulisatra, south-west Madagascar.

VI. GRANDIDIER'S SPORTIVE-LEMUR. LEPIDOLEMUR GRANDIDIERI.

_Lepilemur mustelinus_, Gray (nec Geoffr.), P. Z. S., 1863, p. 144.

_Lepidolemur grandidieri_, Forsyth Major.

CHARACTERS.--"General colour cinnamon; head greyish; an indistinct median dorsal streak from the forehead along the back; inner side of the limbs and under side of the body yellowish-grey.

"Skull remarkable for the large size of its orbits, and for the anterior convergence of its upper dental cheek-series being greater than in the other members of the group."

DISTRIBUTION.--North-west Madagascar.

VII. WHITE-FOOTED SPORTIVE-LEMUR. LEPIDOLEMUR LEUCOPUS.

_Lepidolemur leucopus_, Forsyth Major, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., xiii., p. 211 (1894).

(_Plate IX._)

{90}CHARACTERS.--Ears large, long, membranaceous; tail shorter than the body. Upper side Chinchilla-grey, with an indistinct median brownish stripe from the neck to the root of the tail. Top of head brownish-grey, with a darker median stripe; cheeks and chin whitish. Ears encircled by a broad ring of whitish hair. Neck, shoulders, and upper parts of the fore-arm pale rufous. Breast and belly greyish-white; inner surfaces of the hind-limbs and the heels pure white.[6] Tail greyish, with a rusty tinge. Length, 12 inches; tail, 10½ inches.

The skull is longer and broader than that of _L. grandidieri_; the mastoidal portion of the ear-capsules and the adjacent squamosal region very largely inflated; bony palate elongated; dental cheek-series short; molar teeth small and slender, distinguishing this species from _L. grandidieri_, their small size also separating it from _L. globiceps_.

DISTRIBUTION.--This species is at present known only from Fort Dauphin in the south-east of Madagascar. [Type in British Museum.]

THE ENDRINAS. SUB-FAMILY INDRISINÆ.

This, the last sub-family of the _Lemuridæ_, is considered to contain the highest members of the whole Sub-order. They are distinguished by having their fur abundant, longer and woolly above, shorter beneath, with the hands and feet haired to the tips of the digits. Their head, set at right angles to the spinal column, is rounded, the face elongated and naked, with a deep furrow separating the nostrils. The eyes are large, and have a third eyelid, or nictitating membrane, to draw across the pupil during the day. The ears, which are naked inside and fringed {91}on the outside, are moderately long and buried in the fur, but are less movable at will than is the case with the Galagos. Their fore-limbs are much shorter than the hind ones. The arms, which are united to the body by a parachute-like fold of integument, have long, narrow, and strong hands, of which the thumb is short, set far back, and but little opposable. The rest of the fingers, except the index, which is short, are long and slender, and terminate in a round disc. The feet are elongate, and the great toe, which is freely opposable to the other toes, is very large and broad, being, indeed, nearly as wide as the rest of the digits together; the remaining toes are united by a membrane as far as the second segment. The females have the mammæ situated on the breast.

In the skull the facial region is relatively small, and the cranial region relatively large. The external nostrils communicate with a cavity on the underlying bone; the pre-maxillary bones are deeply excavated in front, and the anterior perforations in the bony palate, behind the incisor teeth, are large. The lower jaw has its angle large, produced backwards, the line of union of its two halves being long, and its lateral movements very limited. In regard to their dentition, the number of the milk-teeth in the young individual is greater than that of the permanent set in the adult, the formula of the former being I2/2, C1/1, P2/3 [M3/3], while that of the latter is I2/2, C1/0, P2/2, M3/3, the lower canine and one lower pre-molar having disappeared. In the upper jaw the incisors are very small, the outer one standing behind the inner one, with a space between the former and the canine; the canines are long, curved behind, and set close up to the anterior pre-molar. The pre-molars are longer than they are broad, laterally compressed, and present to the outside one main triangular cusp with a small accessory cusp on each {92}side, the posterior tooth of the series having a hind inner cusp. The anterior and median molars are four-cusped, of which the outer and inner pairs are separated by a longitudinal groove; to the outside they have one supernumerary cusp on each main cusp, and one between them. The median molar is the largest tooth of the jaw, and the posterior is small, triangular and three-cusped. Of the lower jaw, the outer pair of the long, and almost horizontally protruding incisors, is larger than the inner pair, and is separated by a space from the anterior pre-molar. Of the elongate laterally compressed pre-molars, the anterior is the larger, and is vertically taller than its fellows, being slightly depressed forward and curved behind; the posterior pre-molar has one cusp. The molars have four cusps, of which the inner ones alternate with the outer cusps.

The intestinal canal in the _Indrisinæ_ is very long, the cæcum, or blind diverticulum at the junction of its two portions, being extremely long and large, occupying, indeed, a great part of the abdominal cavity. The main arteries of the fore- and hind-limbs do not break up into a _rete mirabile_, or series of small parallel vessels, as in many other Lemuroids.

In this group, while the sense of smell is very perfect, that of hearing is less acute than in the other Sub-families; and that of touch conspicuously blunt, both in the fingers and toes, which are chiefly climbing and not tactile and prehensile organs, as they are in the corresponding limbs of the Anthropoids. The female never produces more than one young at a birth.

The convolutions of the brain are few, but they are more complicated than in many of the South American Monkeys. In very young individuals the cerebellum is more covered by the cerebrum than it is in the adult.

{93}The species of this Sub-family are confined to the island of Madagascar. Our knowledge of their general characters, anatomical structure and habits, is very complete, through the researches, both in the field, of M. Grandidier, and in the study, of Prof. Alphonse Milne-Edwards. These results are published in their magnificent "Histoire de Madagascar," to which the reader is referred for fuller information.

The _Indrisinæ_, on account of their superior organisation, and especially their relatively large brain, are considered to be the highest of all the Lemuroids. They are essentially arboreal. If they come to the ground they sit upright on their hind-legs, and progress by jumps, holding their arms above their heads. They are easily tamed, and become gentle in confinement; but they are not very intelligent. The Endrinas "never manifest in any very marked manner," so MM. Milne-Edwards and Grandidier tell us, "the passions that affect the Apes so vividly; their countenance, almost as immobile as that of an herbivorous or carnivorous animal, exhibits neither anger nor pleasure. In captivity they do not seek to be caressed; they appear neither to become attached to their master, nor to take interest in anything about them." Many of their actions, however, and the peculiar sounds they often utter, recall those of Monkeys.

Some of the species are diurnal and others nocturnal.

The Sub-family has been divided into three genera, _Avahis_ with one species; _Propithecus_, with three species, and _Indris_ with a single species. All its members are remarkable for the extraordinary amount of variation in the coloration of their fur.

{94}THE AVAHI LEMURS. GENUS AVAHIS.

_Avahi_, Jourdan, C. R., Journal l'Inst., ii., no. 62, p. 231 (1834).

_Avahis_, Milne-Edwards and Grandid., Hist. Nat. Madag., Mamm., i., p. 320 (with full synonymy).

This genus is monotypic, containing but a single species, whose characters include necessarily those of the genus.

I. THE WOOLLY AVAHI. AVAHIS LANIGER.

_Lemur laniger_, Gm., Syst. Nat., i., p. 44, no. 10 (1788).

_Microrhynchus laniger_, Jourdan, Thèse inaug. Soc. Phys., Grenoble, 1834; Mivart, P. Z. S., 1866, p. 151, pi. xv.

_Avahis laniger_, Milne-Edwards and Grandid., Hist. Nat. Madag., Mamm., p. 325 (with full synonymy), Atlas, pls. 9, 10.

(_Plate X._)

CHARACTERS.--Fur woolly; the head nearly round; the face short in proportion to the head; muzzle short, covered with hair; the nose and region of the chin hairy; nose-pad on lip large; nostrils opening into a cavity on the upper lip below the skin. Eyes large, the pupil vertical; ears small, concealed in fur. Tail a little longer than the body; body short, stumpy. Third, fourth and fifth fingers flattened; third and fourth toes united by a membrane as far as the first joint.

PLATE X.

{95}Cranium more vaulted and the muzzle remarkably shorter than in the genera _Indris_ and _Propithecus_; eye-sockets very large; the space between the eyes hollow. Temporal ridges not uniting into a single median ridge. Nasal bones projecting as far as the front end of the very small pre-maxillary bone. Lower jaw remarkably deep and broad behind; line of union of its two halves nearly half the length of the jaw, and in a straight line with the incisor teeth. Toothless space in front of upper jaw greater than in the other two genera. Dentition of the upper jaw: _incisors_ small, the outer larger than the inner, set close to the canines and not at the inner edge of the toothless space; _canines_ vertically short; _pre-molars_, with no inner cusp, but having a prominent outer cingulum (a character seen in no other species of Lemur); _molars_, four-cusped. Lower jaw: _incisors_ larger than in the two other genera, and less horizontal, the inner ones more slender than the outer. Anterior and posterior _molars_, five-cusped. Hind margin of palate reaching to the middle of the median molar. Central bone of wrist wanting (of all Primates agreeing in this character only with Man, the Chimpanzees, the Gentle- and Sportive-Lemurs and the Endrina); fourth digit of the hands and feet longest. Tail long. The small intestine not spirally coiled upon itself, but folded many times transversely.

Hair long, woolly, dark Mouse-grey at base, reddish-brown in the middle, black at the tips. Face broad, entirely covered with short greyish-brown hairs; nose-pad alone nude. Ears concealed and covered by rufous hair; pupil of eye very contractile, very narrow and linear during the day; across the forehead and over the eyes a transverse lunulate whitish band, margined anteriorly by a black band. Back greyish-brown, the nape darker; a patch over the rump, and the base of the tail and buttocks white, washed with rufous; back and inner side of thighs and round the arms whitish; a narrow fringe on the lower margin of arms and legs ashy-grey, washed with rufous; fore-arm, hands and feet rusty-brown; tail bright dark red, deepest at its extremity. Under side and inner surface of limbs grey, washed with rufous. Length of body, 12½ inches; tail, 15¾ inches.

{96}Of this species there are two forms, an _eastern_ and a _northern_, 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 the _Indrisinæ_--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).

{97}The characters which distinguish this genus from _Avahis_ and _Indris_ are 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 in _Indris_, 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 of _Avahis_ and _Indris_. Compared with _Avahis_ it 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 genus _Propithecus_ from _Lemur_,--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 in _Avahis_, and the molars are four-cusped.

The genus _Propithecus_ contains three species; (1) The Diademed Sifaka (_P. diadema_), (2) Verreaux's Sifaka (_P. {98}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. verreauxi_ and _P. 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, bright {99}orange-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 true _P. diadema_ in 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 the {100}same size as the type, but is a melanistic variety, for a series of specimens show every intermediate shade between that here described and the BLACK 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 as _P. 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 than _P. diadema_, the head longer, the hair on the limbs shorter, the tail longer.

{101}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 true _P. verreauxi_ in 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.

{102}COQUEREL'S SIFAKA. PROPITHECUS COQUERELI.

(_Plate XI._)