400 PRIMATES APES AND LEMURS 



and of some of the Asiatic islands, are the homes of several kinds 

 of animals which are not unlike the Monkeys in some respects, 

 but which differ from them in their habits of life, and to a certain 

 extent in their anatomy. Most of them are in the habit of hiding 

 all day, and of moving with great vivacity at dusk and during the 

 night-time. Their gliding, noiseless motion amidst the dense foliage 

 of the tropical woods during the dark hours, and their restless 

 activity in searching for their food during the short twilight, were 

 considered to resemble the fitful apparitions of sprites, spectres, 

 and hobgoblins, and hence Linnaeus gave them the name Lemurs, 

 taking the term from the Latin lemur es, " ghosts." The name 

 has been adopted popularly, so as to include all the kinds which, 

 with some structural resemblance to the Monkeys, are for the most 

 part nocturnal in their habits. The use of the name in this manner 

 has, however, been productive of some confusion, for it was especially 

 given to one genus which is restricted to the island of Madagascar, 

 and of which the Ring-tailed Lemur is a species familiar to all 

 visitors to the Zoological Gardens. In scientific language, the 

 genus Lemur and all the Lemur-like animals are classed together 

 under the term Lemuroida, and it is in this its wide significance 

 that the term is now used. 



The Lemuroida as a group have some characters in common. 

 They are easily recognised by their little hairy " hands " at the 

 ends of the arms and legs, large furry tails, slim furry bodies, long 

 ears, great staring eyes, and a muzzle like that of a small fox. The 

 hinder thumbs, or great toes, are in most very large, strong, opposable 

 to the other digits, and capable of much movement. Furnished also 

 with well-made thumbs on the hands, they have a great power of 

 grasp, and of clasping boughs and large creeping plants during 

 their active climbing and jumping. The fox-like face has no 

 trace of that human expression which is to be found in even the 

 lowest of the apes. The long, furry tail is prehensile, and there is 

 never any trace of cheek pouches. They agree with other Primates, 

 however, in having opposable thumbs and toes, as noted above, 

 and in the flattened digits, and breast-bone mammae. The front 

 limbs are always shorter than the hind limbs. The geographical 

 distribution of the Lemurs is remarkable. Out of the fifty species 

 referable to seventeen genera, thirty-six are confined to Madagascar 

 and some small neighbouring islands, the remainder being limited 



