180 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



might apparently be suitable for Chimpanzees, and in some future 

 time might serve as sanctuaries for transplanted stock, they are at 

 present uninhabited by these apes. In the distant past, however, 

 they may have sheltered them. There is much evidence that in 

 eastern Africa the lowlands and slopes of mountains were anciently 

 clad with heavy forest but that native races of man have in the 

 course of centuries gradually, by burning and cutting, beaten back 

 this forest, and that it has given place to scrubby growth or finally 

 to scattered thorn scrub. A similar process is slowly going on both 

 within the rain forest and at its edges, with slow but gradual clearing 

 of trees for agriculture, and subsequent abandonment. Continued 

 long enough, this results in final destruction of the high forest, first 

 in spots, then in local areas, and finally over larger tracts, all of 

 which will eventually much curtail the available living areas for 

 Chimpanzees. 



G. M. A. 



Lesser Chimpanzee; Pygmy Chimpanzee 



PAN PANISCUS Schwarz 



Pan satyrus paniscus Schwarz, Revue Zool. Africaine, vol. 16, p. 425, April 1, 

 1929. (South of the upper Maringa River, 30 km. south of Befale, south 

 bank of the Congo, Congo Beige.) 



FIGS.: Coolidge, 1933, pi. 1, figs. A, B; pi. 2, fig. A. 



Present evidence seems to indicate that this is a smaller species 

 than the Common Chimpanzee and distinct from it. Its known 

 range is in the Middle Congo forests, on the south side of the river, 

 here supposed to form a physical barrier to northward extension. 



Coolidge (1933) has summed up our knowledge of this animal and 

 has made a comparative study of its skeleton. An adult female 

 (containing a fetus) had a head and body length of 630 mm.; 

 height from crown to sole, 1,010; spread of arms, 1,510. It is thus 

 much smaller than the other species. The hair is fine in texture and 

 glossy black throughout except for a small white pygal tuft, and is 

 long and dense, without a parting on the head. The skull has a 

 rather juvenile appearance in its inflated forehead and small brow 

 ridges. 



Although the existence of a Chimpanzee on the south side of the 

 Congo had been several times reported, it was not until 1928 that a 

 M. Ghesquiere obtained specimens for the Congo Museum in Ter- 

 vueren and the animal was described. Previously a specimen had 

 been in the British Museum, collected in 1895. Other specimens 

 have since been secured, and more information is likely soon to be 

 placed on record. Dr. James P. Chapin, who secured a specimen in 

 1930 near Lukolela, describes the voice as neither so loud nor so shrill 



