LORIS 17 



LITERATURE OF THE SPECIES. 



1758. Linnceus Sy sterna Nature?. 



The slender Loris from Ceylon was here first described as 

 Lemur tardigradus; and this nomenclature was followed by 

 Erxleben, Gmelin, and Schreber. 



1784. Boddcert, Elenchus Animalium. 



The genus Tardigradus was here instituted for the Lemur 

 tardigradus Linn., but being preoccupied by Brisson in 

 Bradipodidce could not be again employed. 



1796. E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, in Magasin Encyclopedique. 



The Linnaean species Lemur tardigradus was here renamed 

 Lemur gracilis, and Loris established as the generic name. 



1804. Fischer-de-Waldheim (G). Anatomie der Maki und der ihnen 

 verwandten Thiere. 



Lemur tardigradus Linn., was here redescribed as Lemur 

 ceylonicus. 



1904. Lydekker, in Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 

 In this paper the author separates the Slender Loris from Cey- 

 lon as a species distinct from the Indian and names it Lemur 

 gracilis ceylonicus, unmindful of the fact that Linnaeus' species 

 came from Ceylon, and that the name ceylonicus had been 

 already bestowed on the animal. 



1908. Cabrera, in Boletin Sociedad Espanola de Historia Natural, 

 Madrid. 



Dr. Cabrera here points out the error committed by Mr. Lydek- 

 ker and renames the Indian Loris lydekkerianus. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE SPECIES. 



The two species which represent the genus at the present time 

 have a rather restricted dispersion in the localities they frequent. 

 L. tardigradus is apparently confined to the Island of Ceylon, where 

 it is called according to Tennent, the Ceylon Sloth. The other species 

 L. lydekkerianus is found in the southern part of the Indian Penin- 

 sula at a low elevation on the Malabar coast, and in the forests of the 

 eastern Ghats, where according to Jerdon it is common. It is very 

 difficult, however, to determine accurately the dispersion of small 

 mammals such as these, whose habits are strictly nocturnal, for it is 



