58 Lloyd's natural history. 



Microcehis smithii, Mivart, P. Z. S., 1864, p. 641 ; Forsyth 

 Major, Nov. ZooL, vol. l, p. 12; Taf. ii., figs. 3, 4, 12, 

 and 13 (1894) (with full synonymy). 



[Plale V7.) 



Characters. —Closely related to the foregoing ; the fur in most 

 specimens less woolly than in the other species ; eyes large ; 

 snout longer and more pointed ; ears shorter, less than half the 

 length of the head ; ankles proportionally shorter ; fingers and 

 toes longer; fur generally darker, the tail not markedly 

 different from the back, very Rat-like in form ; the dark marks 

 in front of the eye extending to the tip of the nose , inside 

 of the ears more ferruginous ; size about that of a Rat. 

 Muzzle longer and more pointed than in M. 7nyoxinus ; pre- 

 maxillae more produced in front, and nasals more produced 

 above the nostrils ; bony palate less prolonged backwards 

 beyond the posterior molar, the hind perforations of the latter 

 large ; the Hne of union of the two halves of the lower jaw 

 shorter than in M. myoxinus ; upper incisors set anterior to 

 the canines, and distant from the inner margin of the pre- 

 maxillae, the inner pair larger than the outer pair ; the anterior 

 upper pre-molar less vertically extended than the median one ; 

 median and posterior lower molars having the hind outer cusp 

 lower and longer than the front outer cusp. 



Distribution. — Smith's Dwarf-Lemur is known from Fort 

 Dauphin, on the south-east coast, from Betsileo in the centre, 

 and from the south coast of Madagascar. 



Habits. — Of the habits of both this and of the preceding 

 species little is known, for they have rarely, if ever, been seen 

 alive by Europeans. According to the Rev. G. A. Shaw, the 

 present species lives in the belt of forest-land stretching from 



