THE TRUE LEMURS 211 



the presence of an additional front tooth on either side of the lower jaw, and likewise 

 by having one more premolar tooth on each side of both jaws ; thus bringing up the 

 total number of teeth from thirty to thirty-six. The formula is zf, c^, p\, m\\ 

 which may be compared with that given on p. 204, as distinctive of the indri group. 



The true lemurs are confined to Madagascar and the Comoro islands, which are 

 situated halfway between it and Zanzibar. Although some of them are nocturnal, 

 and others diurnal in their habits, all these lemurs differ from the indri group 

 in subsisting on a mixed diet ; insects, small reptiles, birds' eggs, and the callow 

 young of birds, forming at least as important a part of their food as fruits. It is 

 probably owing to this mixed diet that they are of a much hardier disposi- 

 tion than are those of the indri group, so that they flourish in confinement in this 

 country so well as not unfrequently to breed ; the number of young produced at a 

 birth being either one or two. 



In consequence of their arms being longer in proportion to their legs than in 

 the indri group, the true lemurs and their allies when on the ground are in the 

 habit of going on all fours, although capable of taking leaps of great length. The 

 true lemurs may be distinguished from the other members of the group to which 

 they belong by the length of their snouts, and the large size of their tufted ears, as 

 well as by their diurnal habits. 



RING-TAILED LEMUR (Lemur catta) 



One of the best known, and at the same time the most easily recognized of all 

 the true lemurs, is the ring-tailed lemur, represented in the figure on the next page. 

 This animal, which may be compared in appearance to a very small fox, is of an 

 ashy gray color, darker on the back, and white on the under parts, as well as on the 

 sides of the face, ears, and the middle of the forehead. Its most distinctive feature 

 is, however, to be found in the alternate rings of black and white on the tail, from 

 which it derives its name. It has no fringe round the face. 



The ring-tailed lemur is found in the central parts of Madagascar, ranging on 

 the west coast to Mouroundava, and on the east coast to Andrahoumbe. Like the 

 other members of the group, this lemur lives in small parties, and is most active at 

 early morning and evening ; sleeping during the night with its bushy tail curled 

 round its body, and likewise taking a siesta during the heat of the day. Unlike the 

 members of the indri group, it is a noisy creature ; and the whereabouts of a troop 

 in the morning or evening is discoverable by the loud cries which they are continu- 

 ally uttering. 



In captivity this species thrives well, and it is generally numerously represented 

 in the menagerie of the London Zoological Society, although it does not appear that 

 it has ever bred there. 



Mr. G. A. Shaw, writing of ring-tailed lemurs, states that they are found 

 only in the south and southwestern borders of the Betsileo province of Madagascar. 

 This province is about one hundred and fifty miles in length, by fifty or sixty in 

 width, and is situated on the central table-land, about one hundred to two hundred 

 and fifty miles south of Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. A forest extends 



