THE MAMMALS 



243 



caff r a), which was held sacred by the Egyptians, who em- 

 balmed them by thousands. 



224. Man-like mammals (Primates). The last and high- 

 est order of mammals, the Primates, includes the lemurs, 

 monkeys, and man. The first of these are strange squir- 

 rel-like forms living chiefly in trees in Madagascar and 

 neighboring regions where they feed on insects. The apes 

 and monkeys are divided into Old and Xew World forms, 

 which differ widely from each other. The American species 

 are marked by flat noses, with the nostrils far apart. All are 

 arboreal, many have long prehensile tails, and the digits bear 

 nails, not claws. Among them are several species of marmo- 

 sets, the howling monkeys (Myocetes), the spider-monkeys 

 (Ateles), and the capuchins (Cebus), all of which are more or 

 less common in captivity. In the Old World apes, on the 

 other hand, the nostrils are close together and are directed 

 downward, the tail is never 

 prehensile, and in some cases 

 is rudimentary, and may even 

 disappear. The lowest spe- 

 cies (the dog-like apes) in- 

 clude the large, clumsy ba- 

 boons, among them the fa- 

 miliar blue-nosed mandrill 

 (Cynocephalus maimon) and 

 several other species of light- 

 er frame, such as the long- 

 tailed monkey (Cercopithe- 

 cus) (Fig. 139), the tailless 

 Macacus, common in menag- 

 eries, and the Barbary ape, in- 

 habiting northern Africa and 



extending Over into Spain. FIG- 1S8. Baby orang-utan. From life. 



The remaining anthro- 

 poid or man-like apes include the gibbons (Hylobates), orang- 

 utan (Simia), gorilla (Gorilla], and chimpanzee (Anthropo- 



