230 MR. P. L. SCLATER ON ANIMALS IN THE MENAGERIE. [Mar. 7, 



Male and Female. 



Lemur macaco, Schlegel, Ned. Tijdsch. iii. p. 67 ; Schl. et Poll. 

 Faune de Mad. p. 1, pi. i. 



Lemur niger, Sclatet, P. Z. S. 18G6, p. 1 ; Cat. of Vert. ed. iv. 

 p. 12. 



In his new Catalogue of Monkeys, Dr. Gray has reunited this 

 species, of which both sexes are now well known to us, to the Lemur 

 varius o{ Geoffroy, as Wagner (Siiugeth. v. p. 142) and others have 

 done before him. But there can be no doubt that, as already pointed 

 out by Professor Schlegel *, the two species are quite distinct. Besides 

 the differences noted by Professor Schlegel, the voice of Lemur varius 

 is very loud, harsh, and powerful. Mr. Bartlett tells me he has 

 heard it at least a mile off. But Lemur macaco has only a coarse 

 grunting call-note, similar to that of most of the smaller Lemures. 

 Within these last ten years we have had two of the former and four 

 of the latter alive in the Gardens, and thus have had ample oppor- 

 tunities of observing them. Besides, as our last specimen of Lemur 

 varius was a female, we know that in this species the sexes are 

 nearly alike. In Lemur macaco (sive niger) they are quite different. 



13. Lemur mongoz. (Plate XVI.) 



Just as was the case with the last-named species, I believe that, 

 with Mr. Bartlett's excellent assistance, I have discovered, by ob- 

 servation of the living animals, that two Lemurs heretofore regarded 

 as quite distinct are really male and female of the same species, to 

 which the earliest name applicable appears to be Lemur mongoz of 

 Linnaeus, founded on the " Mongooz " of Edwards (Gleanings, i. 

 p. 12, t. 216). The females of this Lemur have been hitherto 

 called in our Gardens Black-fronted Lemurs {Lemur nigrifrons), 

 being, as I believe, the Lemur nigrifrons of Geoffroy (Ann. d. Mus. 

 xix. p. 169), but not of F. Cuvier (Mamm. pi. 92 f). The males 

 have been called the Yellow-cheeked Lemur {Lemur xanthomystax), 

 but, no doubt, incorrectly, for the Lemur described and figured under 

 that name by Dr. Gray (P. Z. S. 1863, p. 138, pi. xviii.) seems to 

 be different. But the female is certainly the animal figured by 

 F. Cuvier (Mamm. pi. 93) as " Le Maki a gorge blanche, femelle — 

 Lemur dubius." 



All the " Yellow-cheeked Lemurs " we have had in the Gardens 

 have, as far as I can ascertain, been males, and all the " Black- 

 fronted " females. On May 29th, 1857, we purchased a Black-fronted 

 Lemur. This bred in 1865 with a male " Yellow-cheeked " Lemur, 

 and produced a young one — a male, like its male parent. This was 



* " Ce Lemur presente, et plus particulierement par lea longs poils gamissanfc 

 les oreilles, de l'affinite avec Lemur varius, Geoffroy — espece que les naturalistes, 

 successeurs de LinnS, ont l'habitude de designer sous l'epithete de L. macaco. 

 Mais ce veritable macaco s'eloigneeonstainment du L. varius par sa gorge velue, 

 un systeme de coloration assez different, une taille moins forte et un pelage 

 beaucoup moins fourni, moins touffu, et moins laineux." (Schlegel, Ned. Tijdschr. 

 iii. p. 78.) 



t Cf. Van der Hoeven, Tijdsch. xi. p. 35. 



