146 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



In recognizing dorsalis as a subspecies, Petit states (1933, p. 37) 

 that it inhabits the Mahafaly and Antandroy districts, and dis- 

 appears abruptly with the very distinct limit of the xerophytic 

 vegetation near Bevilana, west of Fort Dauphin. The same author 

 (1935, p. 474) remarks on its former presence in the Manampetsa 

 Reserve in the southwest, but it was not found there in 1932 or 1933. 



Rand (1935, p. 99) records the "Hattock" from Tabiky and 

 Tsarakibany. 



Family INDRIIDAE: Sifakas, Indri, Avahis 



The Sifakas and their relatives constitute a family of 3 genera 

 and 13 forms. All are endemic to Madagascar. Some of the natives 

 have a certain degree of superstitious veneration for the elegantly 

 attired Sifakas and the Indri, and yet the animals are not altogether 

 free from persecution. In numerical status they vary from common 

 to rare. Their limited distribution and their uncertain future render 

 all of them suitable subjects for inclusion in the present report. 



Diademed Sifaka. Propitheque a diademe (Fr.) 



PROPITHBCUS BIADEMA DIADBMA Bennett 



Propithecus Diadema Bennett, Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1832, p. 20, 1832. 



("Madagascar"; type locality restricted by Milne Edwards and Grandidier 



(1875, p. 300) to "la cote Est de Madagascar." 1 ) 



SYNONYMS: Macromerus typicus A. Smith (1833); Indris olbus Vinson (1862). 

 FIGS.: Gervais, Hist. Nat. Mammif., pt. 1, pi. 8, 1854; Milne Edwards and 



Grandidier, 1875, pi. 1. 



Over a hundred years ago this Sifaka was said to be rare, and 

 it is apparently still more so today. The Mission Zoologique Franco- 

 Anglo-Americaine of 1929-31 collected only three specimens the 

 smallest number reported for any of the Madagascar lemuroids 

 (Delacour, 1932, p. 220) . 



Face nearly naked; hairs generally long, silky, waved, erect, and 

 glossy; ears rounded, concealed within the fur; a yellowish-white 

 band extending across the forehead and below the ears to the throat; 

 crown, nape, and hands black; shoulders, sides, and lower back 

 mixed black and white; limbs, rump, and tail pale fulvous; throat 

 like sides, rest of under parts white. Head and body, 21 inches; 

 tail, 17 inches. (Bennett, 1832, pp. 20-21.) 



This subspecies is found only between the Bay of Antongil on the 

 north and the Masora River on the south [at about lat. 20 S.], 



i Elliot (1913, vol. 1, pp. 169, 171) attempts the impossible in stating that 

 Sambava, northeastern Madagascar, is the type locality of this subspecies as 

 well as of P. d. sericeus. For the latter he also attempts to switch Sambava 

 to the northwest coast. 



