380 VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY 



During the Eocene period they lived both in North America and in 

 Europe, a fact indicative of the antiquity of the group. Two per- 

 sistent relics of that Eocene lemuroid fauna are the hving genera 

 Tarsius and Chiromys. 



Chiromys madagascariensis, the "aye-aye," is a rather squirrel-hke 

 animal with long incisor teeth; a bushy tail; the thumb only has a 

 "nail," the other digits being provided with claws; the mammae are 

 abdominal, a primitive position; it has but one young at a birth. The 

 "aye-aye" has a plaintive voice resembling the name; it leads a 

 prowling, furtive life, always in pairs. A nest of twigs is made in the 

 tops of trees. 



Tarsius spectrum, a native of the Malay Islands, is a remarkably 

 strange little creature, with enormous eyes that give it the appear- 

 ance of wearing spectacles, a character from which it derives its 

 specific name. The digits are armed with adhesive pads and have 

 small flat nails. The tail is long and tufted at the end. They live 

 in pairs in holes in hollow trees, and are mainly insectivorous and 

 decidedly nocturnal. The mother carries the young about by taking 

 hold of the neck skin with the teeth, after the manner of a mother cat. 

 Tarsius has an almost smooth cerebrum and alow order of intelligence. 



The more modernized lemurs may be exemplified by the ruffed 

 lemur, the mouse lemur, and the slow loris. Of all the lemurs the 

 rujfed lemur (Lemur varius) is probably the most monkey-like. It 

 has a rather long, bushy tail, a fox-like face and the full primate 

 dentition. The voice is loud; they are diurnal as well as nocturnal 

 in habit. The mouse lemur (Chirogale coquereli) is a native of Mada- 

 gascar; it is very small in size, with soft, fluffy fur and of generalized 

 proportions. The slow loris [Nycticebus tardigradus) is an aberrant 

 lemur, native of East Indian and Malayan territories. It is extremely 

 deliberate in its movements, moving about among the trees chatter- 

 ing and whistling as though without a care in the world. Like other 

 lemurs it is looked upon with superstitious dread by the natives, who 

 regard it as a beast of ill omen. 



Sub-Order 2. Anthropoidea {Monkeys, Apes, Alan). — The anthro- 

 poids are decidedly more highly organized than are the lemurs. They 

 are characterized by the possession of: 32 to 36 teeth; completely 

 closed orbit; pectoral mammae; prehensile hands and feet (except in 

 Man); cerebral hemispheres richly convoluted and covering the 

 cerebellum. 



