38 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



Their teeth number 3618 above and 18 below as in the 

 bulk of the Leimiridx ; the upper molars present on their 

 crown an oblique ridge from the outer hind cusp to the inner 

 front cusp. The ankle region (tarsus) of the hind-limb is much 

 elongated, through the lengthening of two of its bones (the 

 calcaneum and naviculare) : this feature occurring to a greater 

 extent among the African than among the Malagasy species. 

 The mammae are four in numbsr, two on the breast and two 

 on the abdomen. 



Many of the species hibernate during the dry winter season, 

 and to enable them to survive, they accumulate during the 

 summer months a thick deposit of fat over their bodies, more 

 especially at the root of the tail, a fact first conspicuously 

 observed in the Opolemurids. This fat is absorbed for their 

 sustenance during their prolonged torpidity. 



THE AFRICAN GALAGOS. GENUS GALAGO. 

 Galago, Geoffr., Mag. Encycl., Ann. 2, i., p. 49 (1796). 



The African Galagos are generally larger in size than the 

 Madagascar members of the group, and have the snout pro- 

 duced beyond the lower jaw. Their ears are large, membra- 

 naceous, and have a very mobile contractile hinder edge, the 

 animal having the power of folding them up at will. The 

 eyes are also large and approximated ; the fingers and toes 

 very long and slender, and the tail thick and bushy. 



The skull presents a high, broad, and round brain-case, with 

 a relatively short facial region. The pre-maxillary bones are 

 very much reduced, so that the muzzle, measured from the 

 anterior margin of the orbit forward, is shorter than the longi- 

 tudinal diameter of the orbits. The bony palate is also rela- 

 tively short. Compared with those of the Madagascar genera 



