84 



THE PROSIMIANS. 



several species of Mouse Lemurs, the best 

 known of which is the Waluvi of the natives 

 {Oiirogalats furci/ery fig. 28. Its characters 

 are a slender body, tail longer than the body, 

 muzzle and ears pointed, hind-legs longer 

 than the fore-legs, fur woolly, white. It has 



Fig. 29. — Tliu 1.1 



„i 1,. 



two black stripes running back from the eyes 

 to the nape of the neck, where they meet, 

 and whence they are continued backwards in 

 a single stripe. The members of this species 

 prefer to live in hollow trees inhabited by 

 bees; they are excellent leapers, and have a 

 sharp trumpet-like voice, which they delight 

 in using by night. The genus is represented 

 in the Zoological Gardens, London. 



The Indris Family (Indrhida). 



Among the Indrisida are to be found the 

 giants of the Prosimii. The Indris {Lich- 

 anotus Indris), after which the family is 

 named, reaches a height of about three feet 

 when standing upright. 



The dentition deviates 

 from that of the lemurs 

 not only in the form of the 

 teeth, but also in the fact 

 that in the under-jaw there 

 are only two horizontal 

 incisors on each side. In 

 the molars of both jaws 

 four tubercles separated 

 by a transverse furrow can 

 be plainly distinguished. 

 The tubercles are more- 

 over blunt, and soon get 

 rubbed away by use, which 

 indicates a decided prefer- 

 ence for vegetable food. 

 The dental formula is 



2 • I • 2 • 2 , 



= -^o teeth. 



2 • I • 2 • 3 ^ 



The head is small, the 

 muzzle pointed, the ears 

 thickly covered with hair, 

 and almost hid in the fur, 

 the eyes small for a noc- 

 turnal animal, the neck 

 short, the body and limbs 

 slender, the fore- limbs far 

 shorter than the hind 

 ones, the thighs of which 

 are very powerful. The 

 hands and feet are peculiarly striking. Both 

 pollex and hallux (thumb and great toe) 

 stand far apart from the other digits, to 

 which they can be opposed, and the former 

 is specially powerful. All the digits, except 

 these two, are united to one another by a 

 tight skin, and cannot be separated. In this 

 way a true climbing foot, almost like that 

 of the chameleon, is formed, and since hands 



