532 Vertebrata. 



mammae. Tlie Lemurs are arboreal animals feeding on fruits, 

 Insects, and small Vertebrates ; and are usually nocturnal. They 

 occur only in tbe Old World, a considerable number in Madagascar. 



1. The Makis {Lemv/rs). Muzzle pointed and rulpine ; tail long ; i f , c i 

 m f; Madagascar. Allied to these are the Loris {Stenops), with short 

 muzzle ; large eyes ; tail small or absent ; India. 



2. The Tarsier (rarsiws specirMTO) characterised by the great elongation* 

 of some of the tarsals (calcaneum and navicular) so that the foot appears to 

 have a handle ; broad soft pads below the tips of the toes ; toes two and three 

 with claws ; tail long and tufted ; eyes huge. Nocturnal springing animals ; in 

 the Malay Archipelago. 



3. The Aye -Aye (Chiromys madagaseariensis) is peculiar in several 

 respects. Anteriorly, both in upper and lower jaws, there is a large tooth 

 growing from a persistent pulp, which recalls the incisors of the Rodents ; that 

 in the upper jaw is an incisor, that in the lower apparently corresponds with 

 the outermost forwardly directed tooth of other Lemurs, i.e., seems to be a canine 

 (therefore the following may be given as the dental fonnula: i ^, c y, m. A). 

 Hallujs with nail, all the other digits with claws ; the third finger exceptionally 

 thin (used for pulling Insects out of holes or crevices) ; Madagascar. 



Order 14. Primates. 



In the members of this order, Monkeys and Man, both p o 1 1 e x 

 and hallux are separated from the rest of the digits, and are more 

 freely movable than the latter, being usually more or less perfectly 

 opposable, so that the limbs may serve as organs of prehension ; the 

 hallux in particular is usually free and movable (except in Man) . As 

 a rule all the digits are furnished with rather feebly arched nails. 

 The facial region is generally short and small in comparison with that 

 of other Mammals, and with the cranium. There is usually not much 

 hair on the face. The eyes look forwards, and are placed close 

 together. Unlike all other Mammals, the or b it is separated from the 

 temporal fossa by a bony transverse septum (consisting of portions of 

 the jugal, the frontal, and the alisphenoid) . The teeth of the 

 upper and lower jaw are similar, both as regards number and 

 structure ; in each half of the jaw there are two chisel-shaped incisors, 

 one canine of the usual form, two or three premolars, and, as a rule, 

 three (occasionally two) molars ; all the molars are tuberculate, and 

 have short crowns. There are always two m a m m se only, and these 

 are thoracic. Of other characters it may be noticed that the anterior 

 cornua of the hyoid are shorter than the posterior, and that the hyoid 

 is not directly connected with the skull. The uterus is simplex. 



The Primates are, for the most part^ essentially adapted to an 

 arboreal life ; many of them can, however, move along the ground 



* Such an elongation of the ankle is almost unique among Manmialia ; in some 

 allied Lemurs there is, however, an approach to this condition. {Cf. the tarsus of the 

 Anuxa.) 



