CHAPTER VI 



THE DENTAL SYSTEM OF THE PRIMATES 



In enumerating the methods of investigation which have 

 proved of assistance in elucidating the ancestral history of existing 

 animal forms, reference was made to the study of fossil remains. 

 From the nature of their constitution, the teeth are particularly 

 apt to be preserved in the fossil condition, and for this reason the 

 study of the characters of teeth claims special attention in 

 connection with investigations undertaken with the object cited 

 above. For the same reason it is appropriate to review, even 

 though very briefly, the normal features of the teeth in the more 

 representative members of the Primates, and besides the palaeon- 

 tological interest of this study, another claim is presented, in view 

 of the inferences that may be drawn from the direct morphological 

 comparison of the several animals subjected to such an enquiry. 

 The following notes will therefore deal in succession with the 

 main dental characters of representatives of the Lemuridae, of the 

 Tarsii, Cebidae, Cercopithecidae, Simiidae, and Hominidae ; of 

 these the canine and post-canine teeth will first be considered, 

 and subsequently the characters of the incisor teeth will be briefly 

 indicated 1 , the permanent and not the transitory teeth being 

 described first. 



A. THE CANINE AND POST-CANINE TEETH. 



LEMUROIDEA. Lemuridae. Lemur varius (cf. Fig. 161). 



Dental formula : i, § ; c, \ ; pm, % ; m, if ; 



The upper teeth : Fig. 161. The canine tooth is remarkably large with a 

 crenchant posterior margin : its socket is separated by a distinct interval 



1 The following figures (Nos. 161 to 188 inclusive, with the exception of Nos. 163, 

 164 and 181) represent the several teeth in their natural proportions, without 

 reduction. 



