The Flying Lejiur.- 



-MAMMALIA.- 



-ClIEIROPTEKA. 



47 



fessor Van der Hoeven, admit a distinct order for their 

 reception. Tlie latter course does not appear to us to 

 be at all necessary, and we think it will be evident 

 from the following description of tlie conformation of 

 these singular creatures that their affinities are much 

 closer to the lemurine quadrumana, than to the bats. 



THE GAIEOPITHECI, or Flying Lemurs, differ from 

 the rest of this order in the want of opposable thumbs 

 on all the feet, these being composed of five digits of 

 nearly equal length, arranged in the same plane, and 

 united to each other by a membrane (fig. 8). The 

 limbs are rather long and slender, and on each side of 

 the body, taking its rise from the neck and extending 

 to the wrists, ankles, and even between the hinder 

 limbs to the very extremity of the tail, is a broad hairy 

 membrane, looking, at the first glance, like an ample 

 cloak, in which the creature might wrap itself up 

 warmly in case of need. Tbe ofSce of this membranous 

 expansion is, however, very difl'erent ; when in use it 

 is widely extended by means of the limbs, and then 

 serves its possessor in the way of a parachute, enabling 

 him to spring from tree to tree at great distances. 

 Ilence the name of flying lemurs by which the galeo- 

 pitheci are commonly known. But it must not be 

 supposed that this action constitutes true flight ; it is 



Fig. 8. 



Hind foot of Galeopithecus volans. 



merely a parachute-hke sailing through the air; the 

 impetus being given by the spring of the creature from 

 an elevated position, the expanded membrane buoys 

 it up for a considerable distance, although it has no 

 power to sustain or elevate itself in the air by its own 

 exertions. A similar structure, adapted to the same 

 end, occurs in the flying squirrels, and flying phalan- 

 gens, and it is widely different from the true wings by 

 which the bats are enabled to take their swift and 

 noiseless flights through the dusky evening air. 



In the general form of the skull the galeopitheci 

 resemble the lenmrs, but the orbits are open behind as 

 in the bats. The structure and arrangement of the 

 teeth are, however, different from anything we meet 

 with in any other group of mammals. The incisor 

 teeth are four in number in each jaw, but those of the 

 upper jaw are placed quite at the sides, in a line with 



the molars, so as to leave a wide vacant space in front 

 above the lower incisors. The hindmost of the upper 

 incisors are also remarkable for having two roots, a 



Fig. 9. 



Lower incisor teeth of Galeopithecus volans. 



character which does not occur in any other mammal. 

 The lower incisors are inclined forwards as in the 

 lemurs, broad and flat, and with their crowns curiously 

 cleft in such a way that they resemble small combs 

 (fig. 9) ; the canines are wanting in the upper jaw, 

 small and notched at the edge in the lower one ; and 

 the molars are six in number on each side of each jaw, 

 and sharply tubercled. 



Of the other characters presented by these singular 

 creatures we need only notice that they possess two 

 pairs of teats, all placed upon the breast. 



THE FLYING LEMUR {Galeopithecus volans), Plate 

 4, fig. 16, is a native of several of the largo islands 

 of the eastern seas, especially Java, Sumatra, and 

 Borneo, and also of Penang, Siam, and the peninsula of 

 Malacca on the continent of Asia. It is of a blackish- 

 grey colour above, with some whitish spots, and of a 

 tawny-gi'ey beneath ; its feet are blackish, and its total 

 length about eighteen inches. 



In the luxuriant forests of the countries above- 

 mentioned, the flj'ing lemurs exist in considerable 

 abundance, but they are said to select particular spots 

 for their dwelling-places, especially gentle hills covered 

 with young trees, in the thick branches of which they 

 find a secure retreat, and quietly sleep away their days. 

 The night is the season of their activity, and then they 

 may be seen springing obliquely from one tree to 

 another, often at a distance of a hundred yards or 

 more, at the same time uttering a hoarse, croaking, 

 disagreeable noise. On the ground, however, they 

 are very helpless, advancing by a succession of little 

 awkward leaps until they reach some object which 

 they can ascend, when they climb up by the aid of 

 their claws, somewhat in the manner of a cat. 

 They feed upon fruits and young leaves, preferring 

 those of the cocoa, palm, and the Bombax pcntandrum, 

 to the plantations of which, surrounding the native 

 villages, they often do much injury. According to 

 some authors they do not adhere strictly to a vegetable 

 diet, but feed also upon insects, and even upon smah 

 birds when they can seize them. 



