146 LEMUR 



Geogr. Distr. Islands of Madagascar and Mayotte. 



Color. Face black; top of head, forehead and patch at top of 

 nose black ; grayish buff spot over each eye ; entire upper parts sooty 

 brown washed with yellowish ; outer side of limbs paler ; cheeks yellow- 

 ish or buffy ; entire under parts buff ; hands and feet reddish ; tail" 

 reddish with black spot at base above. Ex specimen in Paris Museum 

 probably a type. 



Ex specimen from the Island of Mayotte. Face, nose and lips 

 black; black band across forehead projecting to a point in front at 

 center ; cheeks and back of head and line in front of black on forehead, 

 rufous; body above, and outer side of limbs fulvous, darkest and more 

 reddish on dorsal line; under parts of body, and inner side of limbs 

 yellowish brown ; rufous spot at vent ; hands dark brown ; feet rufous ; 

 black spot at base of tail above ; basal part of tail rufous grading into 

 black for three fourths the length, the hairs tipped with rufous. 



Measurements. Total length, 906; tail, 500; foot, 97; ear, 36, 

 (Collector's measurements). Skull: occipito-nasal length, 82; Hensel, 

 76; zygomatic width, 54; intertemporal width, 28; palatal length, 39; 

 width of bra-incase, 38; length of upper molar series, 30; length of 

 mandible, 60 ; length of lower molar series, 35. 



The supposed type of L. nigrifrons in the Paris Museum, has the 

 black spot at the root of the tail above, characteristic of the island form 

 named by Schlegel mayottensis. This spot is generally very conspic- 

 uous and causes the specimens from Mayotte to be readily recognized. 

 Another peculiarity is the absence of spots over the eyes, which is 

 observable in another "type" in the Paris Museum, although the one 

 described has these marks ; the muzzle is also broad and inflated, quite 

 different in shape from the rather pointed muzzle of L. fulvus ; and 

 the third upper premolar and the first and second upper molars are 

 larger. There is much individual variation in color, as in the other 

 species, and some are all yellowish gray with all the top of the head 

 black, and no rufous showing. It would seem that the characters men- 

 tioned are sufficient to give this form a distinct rank, and that it was 

 an error to regard it as a synonym of L. fulvus. Between the Paris 

 Museum examples and those from Mayotte Island there are no grounds 

 for separation, and it may be, Geoft'roy's specimens came originally 

 from Mayotte Island, as it is not likely, at the time he wrote, that 

 a discrimination of the islands would be made, but all material from 

 that quarter would be labelled Madagascar. 



Messrs. Schlegel and Pollen state that they discovered this species 



