THE BLACK-FRONTED LEMUR. 
Lemur nigrifrons. 
Plate II. 
Since the occurrence of recent events has re-opened Madagascar to Europeans, the various species of Lemurs, 
which are so numerous in the forests of that island, have been brought more frequently to this country, and 
a tolerably full series of these attractive animals may now generally be found in the Society’s Monkey-house. 
Some of them occasionally breed in captivity, and the present illustration has been prepared with the object 
of showing the singular position in which, on such occasions, the young animal is carried by its mother. 
The Lemur commonly called the Black-fronted Lemur, was first distinguished as a separate species by 
M. Geoffroy St. Hilaire in his “ Tableau des Quadrumanes,” published in the 19th volume of the “ Annales du 
Museum d’Histoire Naturelle.” It is, however, rather doubtful whether this animal is really specifically 
distinct from the Lemur mongox of Linnaeus. 
Professor Schlegel has lately shown that a series of skins of the same species of Lemur from the same 
locality present considerable variations in coloring,* and there can be little doubt that the number of species 
of this group has been unduly augmented by authors who have based their distinctive characters solely on 
slight variations of color. 
The young Lemur represented in the accompanying plate, was born in the summer of 1865, and in October 
1866 had attained its full size. It was the produce of two different species, the male having belonged to the 
species lately determined by Ur. Gray as Lemur xantliomystax. The hybrid offspring has, in this instance, taken 
after the father’s coloration, which is conspicuously distinct from that of the mother. 
*Nederlandsch Tijdschrift v. d. Dierkunde, Deel iii., p. 74 et seq. 
