1908.] UNKNOWN LEMUR FROM ASSAM. 889 



tail, a dark triangular patch round each eye, and the anterior 

 surface of the ears dark. The tail is apparently very thick and 

 cylindi'ical, shorter than the head and body, and without definite 

 markings. The limbs are comparatively short and stout. The 

 head is large and round, the face flat, the muzzle small, the ears 

 short and rounded ; the eyes are perhaps a little smaller than 

 those of Nycticehus tardigradus, but ai-e separated by less than 

 their own diameter. The fur is apparently close and woolly. 



Rab. "Caught near Fort Lungleh, Dec. 1889" (La Touche). 

 Evidently an inhabitant of dense jungle on the outer ranges of 

 the Lushai Hills, Assam. 



Mr. La Touche tells me that the individuals he photographed 

 were caught in the jungle and escaped from captivity after a 

 shoi't confinement. They were habitually so slow in their move- 

 ments that no pi'ecautions were taken to prevent their escape ; 

 but when once they had got out of their cage they vanished 

 rapidly. They were fond of hanging upside down, as the upper 

 animal of the photograph (text-fig. 1 73) is doing. It will be noticed 

 that in this position the tail does not hang down but is supported 

 against the side of the box. Possibly it is prehensile, but this 

 is not clear. The lower animal in the photograph is evidently 

 asleep. It sits with its head tucked in under its chest, much as 

 J^ycticehus does ; the tail is also tucked in under the body. 



Possibly on examination the skull of this interesting Lemur 

 would show further clifierences from the known Indian genera, 

 Nycticebus and Loris. Nycticehus and Loris have a rudimentary 

 tail or no tail at all ; Tarskts, the only other Asiatic genus, which 

 is the type of a separate family and only occurs in the Malay 

 Archipelago, has a long, thin tail with a tuft at the end. The 

 closest extra- Asiatic allies of Nycticehus and Loris are the Pottos 

 {Ferodicticus) from W. Africa, which have short or rudimentary 

 tails. Even the type of coloration of La Touche's Lemur, however, 

 so closely resembles that of the Indian forms that it is impossible 

 that the new genus is widely separated from them. Among the 

 Madagascar genera, moreover, Indris — like Tai'sius, the type of a 

 separate family — has a rudimentary tail ; and even in the genus 

 Ferodicticus J &s it is now defined, there is a considerable difierence 

 in the length of this organ in difierent species. 



[Since the above was written I learn from Col. E. W. Loch 

 that the tailed Lemur of the Lushai Hills is well known to him. 

 I defer the publication of a technical description and the naming 

 of the genus until it has been possible to examine specimens. — 

 January 5, 1909.] 



