112 ALTILI LEMUR 



LITERATURE OF THE SPECIES. 



1812. E. Geoffroy St. Hilaire, in Annales du Museum d'Histoire 

 Naturelle, Paris. 



A drawing by Commergon was reproduced in this publication 

 and given the name Cheirogaleus ( !) medius. A specimen 

 in the Paris Museum was identified by Grandidier as Geoffroy's 

 species, and its locality given as Bourbon, Madagascar. 



1868. Grandidier, in Revue et Magazin de Zoologie. 



Altililemur medius (Geoff.), redescribed as C. samati, and 

 by this latter name the species is universally known. 



1894. Forsyth Major, in Novitates Zoologicce. 



Altililemur thomasi is described for the first time as Opole- 

 mur ( !) thomasi. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE SPECIES. 



The two known species of Altililemur are both natives of Mada- 

 gascar, They are fairly large animals with tails nearly as long as the 

 head and body. The base of the tail becomes very large by laying on 

 of fat before the creatures hibernate, and it is on this they subsist 

 during the period they remain in a dormant condition. Their range on 

 the Island of Madagascar, so far as known, is very restricted, A. 

 medius having been found only at Bourbon on the west coast, and A. 

 thomasi at Fort Dauphin on the south east coast. Both species are 

 rare in collections. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES. 



A. Black ring around eyes separated by a white stripe. 



a. Tail above dark gray washed with ferruginous. . . .A. medius. 



b. Tail above pale rufous or rusty A. thomasi. 



Altililemur medius (E. Geoffroy). 



Cheirogaleus ( !) medius E. Geoff., Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, 



XIX, 1812, p. 172, pi. X, fig. 2; Mivart, Proc. Zool. Soc. 



Lond., 1873, p. 492. 

 Chirogaleus (!) samati Grand., Rev. Mag. Zool., 1868, p. 49; 



Mivart, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1873, p. 492. 

 Opolemur (!) samati F. Major, Novit. Zool., I, 1894, p. 18; 



Forbes, Handb. Primates, I, 1894, p. 62. 



