GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 



CHAPTER III 



The Lemurs : Sub-order Lemuroidea 



THESE nocturnal creatures, which have got their 

 name from that way of life, stand unquestion- 

 ably at a lower level than the apes, whose near relations 

 they nevertheless must be regarded as being. Among 

 themselves they are somewhat more diverse of habit 

 than the monkeys, and show in consequence rather 

 more differences of structure and appearance. The 

 rodent-like Chiromys would hardly be referred to the 

 same group of creatures as the tiny little " Smith's 

 dwarf lemur " (Microcebus smithi] or the ambling and 

 quadrupedal black and white ruffed lemur (Lemur 

 varius), by any one not conversant with anatomy, and 

 without the power of making just inferences as to affinity. 

 All lemurs, however, have hand-like feet with an oppos- 

 able great toe exactly comparable to the thumb of the 

 hand. 



The most remarkable fact about the lemurs is in 

 reality their extraordinary geographical distribution 

 in the world. The vast majority of them are absolutely 

 confined to the great island of Madagascar, where they 

 form the most important element in the vertebrate 

 fauna. A few live in Africa, and still fewer in the east 

 of Asia. No kind of lemur is common to any two of 

 these three tracts of country which they inhabit. At 



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