LEMURID.K 691 



Angola is G. montieri. G. garnetti, alleni, maholi, demidoj/i, and 



gdlensis are other recognised species. The last-mentioned was 

 the first known to science, having been brought from Senegal by 

 Adanson, and described in 179G by Geoffroy, who adopted the 

 name Gaiago, by which it was said to be called by the natives. 



Subfamily Lorisinse. — Dental formula as in Lemwince. Index 

 finger very short, sometimes rudimentary and nailless. Fore and 

 hind limbs nearly equal in length. Tarsus not specially elongated. 

 Pollex and hallux diverging widely from the other digits, the hallux 

 especially being habitually directed backwards. Tail short or quite 

 rudimentary. Mammae two, pectoral. 



A small group of very peculiar animals, of essentially nocturnal 

 habits, and remarkable for the slowness of their movements. They 

 are completely arboreal, their limbs being formed only for climbing 

 and clinging to branches, not for jumping or running. They have 

 rounded heads, very large eyes, short ears, and thick, short, soft 

 fur. They feed not only on vegetable substances, but, like many 

 of the Lemuridce, on insects, eggs, and also birds, which they steal 

 upon while roosting at night. None of the species are found in 

 Madagascar. One of the greatest anatomical peculiarities of these 

 animals is the breaking up of the large arterial trunks of the limbs 

 into numerous small parallel branches, constituting a rete mirabile, 

 which is found also in the Sloths, with which the Loris are some- 

 times confounded on account of the slowness of their movements. 

 The animals of this group are usually divided into four genera, 

 though the characters by which they are separated are very trivial. 

 There are more property two natural divisions. 



A. Characterised by the index finger being small, but having 

 the complete number of phalanges, and by their Asiatic habitat. 



These form the genus Loris of Geoffroy St. Hilaire (1796), 

 Stenopsot Illiger (1811), but they were in 1812 divided by Geoffroy 

 into tAv r o genera, Nydicebus and Loris, a division which has been 

 accepted by most modern zoologists. 



Nycbfcefms. 1 — First upper incisor larger than the second, which 

 is often early deciduous. Inner margins of the orbits separated 

 from each other by a narrow flat space. Nasal and premaxillary 

 bones projecting but very slightly in front of the maxilla?. Body 

 and limbs stout. Xo external tail. Vertebrae : C 7, D 17, L 6, S 3, 

 C 12. The species are N. tardigradus, the common Slow Lemur or 

 Loris, of the Malay Countries, Sumatra, and Borneo ; A", javanicus, 

 of Java ; and X. einerms ( Fig. -i29) of Siam and Cochin China. The 

 habits of all are much alike. They lead a solitary life in the 

 recesses of large forests, chiefly in mountainous districts, where the}' 

 sleep during the day in holes or fissures of large trees, rolled up 

 into a ball, with the head between the hind legs. On the approach 

 1 Geoffroy, Ann. du Museum, vol. xix. pp. 162, 163 (1812). 



