76 



MAMMALIA. 



Many of the foregoing animals fly with their yoving invoived in the interfemoral membrane, 

 extremity of the tail in some is slightly prehensile. 



The 



We would remark, here, that the order Primnria, indicated at p. 43, resolves iuto two 

 primary sections, of which the second is constituted by the Cheiroptera, as opposed to the 

 remainder, or the Bimana and Quadrumana of Cuvier. We regard the Cheiroptera as 

 divisible into two groups only of the value of families, namely, Pteropidce, comprising the 

 frugivorous genera, and Vespertillonidce, comprehending all the remainder, which may pro- 

 bably be reduced to seven or eight primary divisions. The remains of insectivorous Cheiroptera 

 have been detected in the European tertiary deposits.]* 



The Colugos {Galaopithecus, Pallas) — 

 DiflPer generically from the Bats in having their fingers, which are armed with trenchant nails, no 

 longer than the toes, so that the membrane wliich occupies their intervals, and extends to the sides of 

 the tail, can only officiate as a parachute. Their canines are dentelated, and as short as the molars. 

 They have two [four] dentelated incisors above, very widely apart; six below f, split into narrow 



strips Uke a comb, a structure altogether pe- 

 cuUar. These animals Hve on the trees in the 

 Indian archipelago, and pui-sue insects, and per- 

 haps birds ; to judge from the detrition which 

 their teeth experience with age, they would ap- 

 pear to subsist also upon fruits. They have a 

 large ccecum. 



[This remarkable genus accords chiefly with the 

 Bats in the adaptive structure of its hind extremities, 

 and in the tail being completely attached to interfe- 

 moral membrane : the molars, also, are sharply tuber- 

 culated, implying an insectivorous regimen, at least 

 in part ; but this character is common to several Strep- 

 sirrh'mi: there is also a tendency to an opposable 

 power in both the fore and hind thumbs. The 

 general anatomy agrees very closely with that of the 

 Lemurs ; one marked feature in which it difl'ers from 

 the Bats is, the presence of a large ccecum, as intimated 

 by Cuvier. The orbits of the skull, though raised, 

 are much less approximated than in the Lemurs, and 

 incomplete ; in which respect this genus chiefly devi- 

 ates from the type of the Quadrumaua. A parachute 

 membrane occurs, hkewise, among the Squirrels and 

 Phalangers, only not extending to the tail, as in the 

 present instance ; this, therefore,is merely an adaptive 

 character of minor importance. Linnsus designated 

 the only species he knew Lemur volans. 



" Two species," remarks Temminck, " are strongly 

 characterized by their osteology ;" which may be i)re- 

 sumed to be those provisionally named by Waterhouse 

 G. Temminckii, and G. phUippinensis, both of which are extremely variable in colour. The former is more exten- 

 sively diffused, and superior in its linear dimensions, but with smaller hands and ears ; its teeth are separated by 

 intervals, and the parietal ridges of the cranium are widely apart : in the latter there are no interspaces between 

 the teeth, which are much stouter and broader ; the jaw is accordingly much stronger, and to impart ad- 

 ditional vigour to the muscles which operate upon it, the parietal ridges, to whicli they are attached, almost meet 

 on the occiput. Tliey inhabit lofty trees in dark woods ; to which they cling with all four extrernities, and traverse 

 easily by means of their strong and extremely compressed, very hitching claws ; they also leap and float a dis- 

 tance of a hundred yards in an inclined plane, supported by the membrane. They are very inoftensive animals, 

 subsisting in part on the leaves of the nanka, or jack-fruit ; and when captured, do not attempt to bite, as has often 



21.— GalBDopitheouj* Ten 



* Our plan only permitting us In class those aTiimals tie characters that of the Bats~a revision from Nature, and not from compilation. 



of whiclt we have personally ascertained, or from very complete [Their mutual alliuities particularly require elucidation. J 



descriptions and figures, we have been obliged to omit several genera t Analogy with the Lemurs intimates that the exterior of these 



of MM. Ilafiucsque, Leach, &c. : and may here observe that there is | represent the canines.— Kd. 



no group of animals which stands more in need of revision tlian ' 



