ORDER PRIMATES: PRIMATES 155 



Inclri; Indris; Endrina. Indri (Fr.) 



INDRI INDRI (J. F. Gmelin) 



[Lemur} Indri J. F. Gmelin, Syst. Nat., vol. 1, pt. 1, p. 42, 1788. (Based upon 



the "Indri" of Sonnerat (Voy. Indes or. et Chine, vol. 2, p. 142, 1782) ; 



type locality, "Madagascar.") 

 SYNONYMS: Indris brevicaudatus E. Geoffroy (1796); Indri niger Lacepede 



(1800) ; Indris ater I. Geoffroy (1825) ; Lichanotus mitratus Peters (1871) ; 



Indris variegatus Gray (1872). 

 FIGS.: Sonnerat, 1782, vol. 2, pi. 88; Audebert, Hist. Nat. Makis, pi. 1, 1800; 



Milne Edwards and Grandidier, 1875b, pis. 11, 12; Royal Nat. Hist., vol. 1, 



p. 204, fig., 1893-94; Forbes, 1894, pi. 12. 



The distribution of the Indri appears to be subject to considerable 

 local variation, but here and there in eastern Madagascar it is still 

 common. 



This is the largest of the lemurs; it is almost entirely black; fur 

 silky and dense; snout, posterior under parts, back of thighs, and 

 lower arms grayish; rump white, with woolly hair; tail perceptible 

 only to the touch (Sonnerat, 1782, vol. 2, p. 142; J. F. Gmelin, 1788, 

 vol. 1, p. 42). It exhibits "a great variety of color pattern as well as 

 diversity of hues" (Elliot, 1913, vol. 1, p. 177). Head and body, 

 650 mm.; tail, 60-70 mm. (Milne Edwards and Grandidier, 1875a ; 

 p. 337). 



Elliot (1913, vol. 1, p. 176) gives the range as "eastern coast of 

 Madagascar, in forests on the eastern side of the high mountains 

 between the Bay of Antongil on the north and the River Masara 

 on the south." 



According to Sonnerat (1782, vol. 2, p. 142), the natives of the 

 south capture the animals when young, rear them, and train them 

 like dogs for hunting. 



Pollen writes (1868, pp. 20-21) that up to that time the Indri 

 was known only from the interior of eastern Madagascar. His 

 friend Dr. Vinson reported that while passing through the great 

 forest of Alanamasoatrao he was deafened, during two days,' by the 

 incessant clamor of apparently numerous but invisible bands of 

 these animals. The natives have a superstitious veneration for the 

 Indri, and it plays quite a part in their folklore. It feeds upon fruits 

 and also preys upon small birds. 



Milne Edwards and Grandidier state (1875a, pp. 340-341) that 

 the species lives only on the eastern slope of the great massif be- 

 tween the Bay of Antongil and the River Masora. It is essentially 

 diurnal and lives in bands, usually of no more than 4 or 5 indi- 

 viduals. They refute Sonnerat 's tale of its being trained by the 

 natives for hunting. 



"This Lemuroid is probably the best known to travellers in 

 Madagascar, at least by ear, as no one can travel along the most 



