ftbe 1Emlf*flfconkq>s or lemuroios. 



SECOND ORDER: Prosimii. 



H E majority of naturalists 

 have classified the Lem- 

 uroids with the Monkeys ; 

 but we see in them an en- 

 tirely distinct order and ac- 

 cordingly here class them 

 separately. In reality they 

 bear but little resemblance 

 to Monkeys. Their ana- 

 tomical structure is entirely 

 different, and their teeth do 

 not correspond with the 

 teeth of the Monkeys in any 

 particular. The name of Quadrumana (four-handed), 

 is a great deal more appropriately used in connection 

 with Lemuroids than with the Monkeys, as the dif- 

 ference between the hand and foot in the former is 

 very slight. One may take these animals to be the 

 connecting link between Monkeys and the Marsu- 

 pialia (pouched animals), imagining them to be suc- 

 cessors of a genus of unknown animals of the same 

 family as the Opossum ; but they are not Monkeys. 

 Distinctive A generic picture of the Lemuroids 

 Features of is not easily drawn. They differ 

 Lemuroids. widely in size and shape, teeth and 

 skeleton. Some are as big as a -:.- 



large Cat, others as small as a 

 Mouse. Most species have slim 

 bodies ; some are extremely thin. 

 The muzzle of some reminds one of 

 a Dog or Fox, while that of others 

 may be Owl-like. The hind limbs 

 are usually longer, and often con- 

 siderably longer than the fore- 

 limbs. In some groups the ankle- 

 bones are relatively short ; but in 

 some they are rather long. The 

 tail may be longer than the body 

 or may scarcely be visible ; it may 

 be bushy or partly devoid of hair. 

 Large eyes adapted for use at night, well-developed 

 ears and a soft, thick, usually woolly fur, character- 

 ize the Lemuroids externally as nocturnal animals. 

 The skull is round in the back ; the muzzle is narrow 

 and short, and the orbits are large and close to- 

 gether, and have a projecting rim, high in the upper 

 part, which does not surround the whole of the orbit 

 but merges into the temple sideways. 



The Homes The Lemuroids live in Africa, espe- 

 of the cially in Madagascar and the adjoining 

 Lemuroids. islands; but they .are also found, al- 

 though in much smaller numbers, in India and the 

 South Asiatic islands. They all lead arboreal lives, 

 some of them hardly ever coming to the ground. 

 Some are remarkably quick and agile, while others 

 are slow and deliberate and glide about as noiselessly 

 as ghosts. Some are active and feed in the day-time, 

 but the majority awake at sunset, and the dawn of 

 •day finds them already sound asleep. Fruit, buds 



and young leaves form the food of some kinds, 

 while others subsist on insects, small vertebrata and 

 vegetable matter. In captivity they soon become 

 accustomed to all kinds of food. 



Zbe lemurs. 



FIRST FAMILY: Lemurid*. 



The Romans applied the name Lemur to the souls 

 of the dead, the good among whom protected the 

 house and family from evil, while the wicked ones 

 wandered about as evil spirits and worried poor 

 mortals. Science also has its Lemurs, but these are 

 by no means ghosts although they stealthily roam 

 about at night, being creatures of flesh and blood 

 and of a more or less prepossessing appearance. 

 They are the center of the class of animals we pro- 

 pose to deal with, the family of Half-Monkeys, 

 which comprises a number of groups of widely dif- 

 fering characteristics. 



Habits The Lemurs possess all the peculiarities of 

 of the the Lemuroids, the two other groups of 

 Lemurs. Half-Monkeys differing from them mainly 

 in their teeth, structure of hands and feet, and fur. 



&5&V 



^-AMKX 



-*.j.»;ivCMMnK»T 



THE VAEI, OR BUFFED LEMUR. This member of the Lemur 



family is especially peculiar because of the striking contrast shown in the 

 black and white of its long fur, which is faithfully reproduced in the picture. 

 The graceful limbs, the long, furry tail and pointed mu/zle general to the 

 Maki family of Lemurs of which the Yari is a member, are also well shown. 

 (Li'mur varius.) 



The Lemurs (Lemuridts) are natives of Madagas- 

 car and the adjacent islands, of the whole continent 

 of Africa, and a few species are scattered over India 

 and the islands of Southern Asia. They all inhabit 

 forests, preferring the impenetrable virgin woods, 



(65) 



