XVII 



HABITS AXD DISTRIBUTION OF TARSIUS 



SSI 



there is, however, a gap left to mark the Lemurine characters of 

 the animal. The placenta, too, has been compared to that of the 

 Apes. The dental formula is that of the genus Lemur, save for 

 the absence of an incisor on each side of the lower jaw ; the 

 number of teeth is therefore thirty-four. The incisors of the 

 lower jaw are upright, and not procumbent as in other Lemurs 

 The caecum is of moderate length. The brain is almost smooth, 

 but there is a Sylvian fissure and an antero-temporal, which latter 

 does not reach the lower margin of 

 the brain, but divides the middle part 

 of the temporal lobe. The name 

 Tarsier, as may be inferred, was 

 originally given to this creature by 

 Buffon on account of the abnormal 

 ankle, and it was compared by him 

 with the Jerboa, like which animal 

 the Tarsier leaps when it descends to 

 the ground. The genus is IMalayan, 

 but its range extends to the Philip- 

 pines and to Celebes and Borneo. 

 The Tarsiers are nocturnal and parti- 

 cularly arboreal ; they live in pairs, 

 in holes in tree stems, and are mainly 

 insectivorous in their food. One, _ 



rarely two young are produced at a Fig. 264.— Right pes of Tarsins 

 birth. Contrary to what is found in ""-'-— '^-^ "■-' ■■ *-*- 

 many Lemurs, the Tarsier is a silent 

 creature, and at most emits a " sharp, 

 shrill call." Dr. Charles Hose, who 

 has studied this creature, has noticed 

 that the mother often carries her young one about in her mouth 

 like a Cat. Like so many Lemurs this animal is held in super- 

 stitious dread, which no doubt is the result of its most weird 

 appearance.^ 



Fossil Lemurs. — The Lemuroids are a very ancient race ; 

 they extend back to the very earliest strata of the Eocene, the 

 Torrejon and Puerco beds, which, as already said, are thought to 

 be more referable to the Cretaceous than to the Tertiary epoch. 



' For a survey of the position of Tarsius, see Earle, Amcr. Naturalist, xxxi. 

 1887, p. 569 ; and Nat. Science, x. 1897, p. 309. 



spectruvi. (Nat. size.) a. Astra- 

 galus ; c, calcaneum ; c^, internal 

 cuneiform ; c~, middle cunei- 

 form ; c**, external cuneiform ; 

 cb, cuboid ; ;i, navicular ; 1- V, 

 the digits. {From Flower's 

 Osteology.) 



