6o4 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



thropoidea. The former have the orbit and the temporal fossa 

 incompletely separated, the lachrymal foramen is outside the 

 orbit, the humerus has an epicondylar foramen, and the femur 

 has a third trochanter. The Anthropoidea have the orbit 

 completely shut off from the temporal fossa, the lachrymal and 

 its foramen are inside the orbit, the humerus (ordinarily) has no 

 epicondylar foramen, and the femur has no third trochanter. 

 There are also differences in the soft anatomy, particularly in 

 the reproductive organs. The Lemuroidea are much the more 

 primitive. Some writers separate them from the Primates alto- 

 gether, and place them as a distinct order, the " Prosimiae." 



As we should expect, the fossil Lemuroidea take us back 

 much further than the fossil Anthropoidea. None are certainly 

 known from the Paleocene of any part of the world, though a 

 number of fragments (probably of Insectivora) have been 

 claimed as lemurine. But a genus Plesiadapis occurs in the 

 Landenian of Belgium, this being a transition bed between 

 the Paleocene and Eocene. Lemurs are numerous in the 

 Eocene, both of Europe and North America. All the remains 

 are of course fragments, but many of them are well preserved, 

 and are quite typical. There are three families. The Adapidae 

 of Europe include Plesiadapis and Adapis. The Anapiomor- 

 phidcB, found in both Europe and North America, are believed 

 to be related to the existing Tarsier. The Notharctidce of North 

 America are nearer to the typical lemurs now living. It is 

 interesting to note that Notharcius had retained the first pre- 

 molar, which is lost in all other Primates. Lemurs are not 

 known either in Europe or North America after the end of the 

 Eocene. None have been certainly recorded from South 

 America at any period. The chief subsequent evolution of 

 the sub-order has been in Madagascar, as already indicated. 

 In that island they have flourished exceedingly, and some of 

 the species attained large dimensions in the Pleistocene. 



Passing on to the Anthropoidea, we find the fossils less 

 ancient, but having the most astonishing horizontal distribu- 

 tion. The Anthropoidea other than the Hominidae have 

 undergone scarcely any evolution since the Miocene, and even 

 the Simiidae (apes) were in existence in the Oligocene. I 

 endeavoured to point out the bearing of these particular facts 

 on prehistoric anthropology in a former number of this journal.* 

 Great apes are known from the Miocene of Europe and India — 

 DryopithecuSy Hylobates, Paidopithex, Sivapithecus , and others. 

 And with these also were associated Cercopithecidae (Old-World 

 monkeys), which were apparently typical and modern in char- 

 acter. All these animals, be it noted, belong to the fourth 



» S«e "The Extinct Apes." October 1914. 



