240 
LEMURS. 
animal is known to the natives of the above-mentioned islands by the name of the 
Malmag. The same writer also informs us that only one young is produced at a 
birth; and that when the natives capture one of a pair, they are sure of securing 
its fellow. When feeding, the tarsier sits up on its hind-quarters and holds its 
food in its hands, somewhat after the fashion of a squirrel. 
The Aye-Aye (Ghiromys madagascariensis). 
The last of the lemur-like animals, and, at the same time, of the whole order 
of Primates, is the aye-aye of Madagascar, which has teeth so utterly different 
from all other members of the order that it was long considered to belong to the 
Rodent order (rats, rabbits, etc.). 
The most peculiar feature about the teeth of the fully adult aye-aye is that the 
front, or incisor teeth, are reduced to a single pair in each jaw, which are curved, and 
have their extremities brought to a sharp chisel-like edge, admirably adapted for 
gnawing and rasping hard substances. The structure of these teeth is in fact precisely 
the same as in the front teeth of rats and beavers; their sharp cutting-edge being 
produced by the circumstance that while the body of the tooth is formed of the 
comparatively soft ivory, the front surface is faced with a layer of hard flinty enamel. 
And it will be obvious that the result of wear in a tooth of this type will be to produce 
a chisel-like edge. It will further be apparent that such a tooth, if continually 
employed in rasping away hard substances, would be very quickly worn away 
altogether, if it were of the same length as ordinary teeth, and not provided with 
some kind of renewal. This difficulty is obviated by the front teeth of the aye-aye 
remaining open at their lower ends, and undergoing a continual process of growth; 
so that as their summits are worn away they are pushed further up from below. 
In all these points their teeth are precisely similar to those of the Rodent Mammals. 
A further resemblance to Rodents is shown by the absence of tusks in the aye-aye; 
and also by the cheek-teeth being separated by a long gap from the incisors, as 
well as by being reduced in number, and having their crowns with nearly flat 
surfaces, instead of being surmounted with the sharp cusps found in those of the 
true lemur. Indeed, the total number of teeth in the adult aye-aye is only 
eighteen; these being expressed by the formula i\, cj}, p^, m|, or exactly the same 
as in many Rodents. 
If, then, the teeth of the adult aye-aye are so exactly like those of a Rodent, 
the reader may well ask why it is not placed among the rats and beavers, instead 
of among the lemurs. To this it may be replied that in the young aye-aye the 
milk- or baby-teeth are very much more like those of the true lemurs; while the 
anatomy of the skeleton and the soft parts is essentially that of a lemur, and not 
that of a Rodent. The resemblance of the skull and teeth of the aye-aye to those 
of a Rodent, is, indeed, an excellent instance of what zoologists term an adaptive 
or parallel resemblance. When two animals belonging to totally different groups 
have more or less nearly similar habits, it frequently results that they will closely 
resemble one another in at least some part of their structure; such particular 
structure being the one best adapted for a particular mode of life. In all such 
cases a superficial examination of the animals in question will frequently lead to 
