24 Lloyd's natural history. 



THE SLOW-LEMURS. SUB-FAMILY I. LORISIN^. 



This Sub-family has been constituted to receive a small num- 

 ber of Lemurs, which, although occupying limited areas in two 

 widely separated continents —one genus being African and the 

 others Asiatic — present certain characters in common. They 

 are recognised by having soft woolly fur, a triangular head and 

 pointed face, very large and staring eyes, set close together, 

 while their ears are naked along their margin. Their fore- 

 and hind-Hmbs are nearly equal. In the Asiatic genera the 

 index finger is very small, while in the African it is quite rudi- 

 mentary and nail-less. In both groups the thumb diverges 

 widely from the other fingers, and the great toe is directed 



Fig. 6. Front Teeth of Perodicticus, Nycticebus and Loris, after Mivart 

 (P. Z. S., 1864, p. 631). 



backwards, but the ankle-bones of the foot are not elongated. 

 The tail is either so short as to be quite concealed in the fur, 

 or is less than one-third of the length of the body. 



In the skull the squamosal region with the outer and pos- 

 terior portion of the ear capsules (the periotic) are inflated. 

 The dental formula of the Slow-Lemurs is the same as given 

 above for the family generally. In the upper jaw, the two in- 

 cisors are usually equal, but, if unequal, the inner incisor is 

 always the larger (Fig. 6) ; the vertically long canine, which is 

 separated by a gap from the anterior pre-molar, presents both in 

 front and behind a neck or cingulum, which is cusped behind ; 

 the pre-molars are canine-like, and have the cingulum produced 

 behind into a heel (or talon). The anterior of the three is verti- 



