Part 14

CHARACTERS.--Head Cat-like and round; muzzle pointed and broader than in M. minor. Ears large, one-third shorter than the head and short-haired; eyes large and round. Fourth digit of hand longest; second and fifth shortest. Tail longer than the body, its hair stronger and shorter than on the body, but longer at the tip and on the upper side than it is beneath. Two pairs of teats, one pair on the breast, and one pair on the abdomen.

Resembles M. minor, but is redder in colour. Back reddish-yellow, washed with ferruginous, brighter on the forehead and under the eyes; a dark brown spot on the upper and lower corners of the eyes; sides of body between the limbs, hands and wrists, feet and ankles, as well as the external margins of the limbs, and the whole under side, as well as a spot on the brow, a line down the centre of the nose, and the sides of the head and cheeks, pure white, washed with yellowish-brown. {57}Tail golden-yellow, washed with ferruginous on the upper side, the entire distal third darker; rest of the under side of the tail paler. Naked part of ears flesh-colour. (Peters.) Hairs slate-grey at base, the tips ferruginous.

Mastoid portion of ear-capsules (periotic-bones) not so inflated as in M. minor; hind border of bony palate extending to the posterior border of the last molar, its posterior foramina being large; pre-maxillary bones very large and projecting beyond the incisor teeth; angle of lower jaw pointed and hooked. Upper inner incisors standing in front of the canines, and nearly twice the size of the outer; no gap between the canines and the anterior pre-molar; the pre-molars vertically sub-equal, and with one external cusp; molars with two external cusps, the hinder of the two united to the large inner front cusp by an oblique ridge, their inner side bounded by the cingulum; the posterior molar smaller than the two anterior. Anterior and median lower molars four-cusped; the posterior, the largest of the cheek-teeth, five-cusped.

DISTRIBUTION.--The Dormouse Dwarf-Lemur inhabits the south-west coast of Madagascar; it has also been obtained at Bambotoka in St. Augustin's Bay on the west coast.

III. SMITH'S DWARF-LEMUR. MICROCEBUS SMITHI.

Microcebus pusillus, G. R. Waterh., Cat. Mamm. Mus. Zool. Soc., 2nd ed., p. 12 (1838).

Cheirogaleus smithii, J. E. Gray, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 1842, p. 257.

Chirogaleus pusillus, Flower and Lydekker, Introd. Mamm., p. 690 (1891, pt.)

{58}Microcebus smithii, Mivart, P. Z. S., 1864, p. 641; Forsyth Major, Nov. Zool., vol. 1., p. 12; Taf. ii., figs. 3, 4, 12, and 13 (1894) (with full synonymy).

(Plate VI.)

CHARACTERS.--Closely related to the foregoing; the fur in most specimens less woolly than in the other species; eyes large; snout longer and more pointed; ears shorter, less than half the length of the head; ankles proportionally shorter; fingers and toes longer; fur generally darker, the tail not markedly different from the back, very Rat-like in form; the dark marks in front of the eye extending to the tip of the nose, inside of the ears more ferruginous; size about that of a Rat. Muzzle longer and more pointed than in M. myoxinus; pre-maxillæ more produced in front, and nasals more produced above the nostrils; bony palate less prolonged backwards beyond the posterior molar, the hind perforations of the latter large; the line of union of the two halves of the lower jaw shorter than in M. myoxinus; upper incisors set anterior to the canines, and distant from the inner margin of the pre-maxillæ, the inner pair larger than the outer pair; the anterior upper pre-molar less vertically extended than the median one; median and posterior lower molars having the hind outer cusp lower and longer than the front outer cusp.

DISTRIBUTION.--Smith's Dwarf-Lemur is known from Fort Dauphin, on the south-east coast, from Betsileo in the centre, and from the south coast of Madagascar.

PLATE VI.

{59}HABITS.--Of the habits of both this and of the preceding species little is known, for they have rarely, if ever, been seen alive by Europeans. According to the Rev. G. A. Shaw, the present species lives in the belt of forest-land stretching from the eastern forest into the heart of Betsileo, a few miles north of Fianarantsoa, where they are tolerably abundant, frequenting the tops of the highest trees. Among these it moves about on all fours (its very stout limbs having beautifully perfect hands), using its tail as a balance by twisting it round a branch. The tail is, however, not truly prehensile, the animal only employing it to steady itself, or to hold on slightly by. This species, whose food consists chiefly of fruit and insects, builds a nest in a fork amid the smallest branches near the top of some very high tree, the female bringing forth two and sometimes three young at a birth.

IV. THE FORK-MARKED DWARF-LEMUR. MICROCEBUS FURCIFER.

Lemur furcifer, Blainv., Ostéogr. Mamm., 1841, p. 35, pl. vii.

Cheirogaleus furcifer, Isid. Geoffr., C. R., xxxi., p. 876 (1850); Mivart, P. Z. S., 1867, pp. 960-975 (skull and tarsus figured).

Lepilemur furcifer, Gray, P. Z. S., 1863, p. 145.

Phaner furcifer, J. E. Gray, Cat. Monkeys, Brit. Mus. App., pp. 132, 135 (1870).

Microcebus furcifer, Forsyth Major, Nov. Zool., vol. i., p. 16 (1894).

CHARACTERS.--Ears large and long; snout pointed; tail longer than the body, and equally haired; foot elongate. General colour reddish-grey. Unmistakably recognisable by the black dorsal streak bifurcating on the forehead into two branches, extending on the inner side of the ears and terminating over each eye.

Facial portion of skull longer than cranial; angle of lower jaw much produced backwards and downwards; hind margin of palate extending back to hinder margin of posterior molar; hind perforations of palate large; border of maxillary swollen {60}in the canines and pre-molars. Upper anterior incisors much larger than the posterior, and both anterior to canines; anterior pre-molars canine-like, both vertically and proportionately longer than the median pre-molars of any other species of the family; median pre-molar compressed, with a fore and hind heel; the posterior pre-molar with a large internal talon. Molars comparatively small, but longer and narrower than in M. coquereli; anterior molar much larger than the posterior pre-molar, its hind inner cusp rudimentary; the posterior molar longer than the posterior pre-molar, and smaller than the other molars, its inner cusp wanting. Lower anterior pre-molar lance-shaped, vertically longer than the two posterior sub-equal grinders; molars sub-equal, much larger than the posterior pre-molar; posterior molar comparatively short, five-cusped.

DISTRIBUTION.--Chiefly found on the west coast of Madagascar.

V. COQUEREL'S DWARF-LEMUR. MICROCEBUS COQUERELI.

Cheirogalus coquereli, Grandid., Rev. Mag. de Zool., xix., 1867, p. 85.

Microcebus coquereli, Mivart, P. Z. S., 1867, pp. 966-967; Forsyth Major, Nov. Zool., vol. i., p. 14 (1894; with full synonymy).

Mirza coquerelii, J. E. Gray, Cat. Monkeys, Brit. Mus. App., pp. 131, 135, 136 (1870); Schlegel, Mus. Pays Bas, vii., p. 321 (1876).

CHARACTERS.--Similar to M. furcifer, but slightly smaller; ears large, long, and almost naked; tail longer than the body; fur soft and woolly. Above dark grey, washed with rufous; tail, at base, of the same colour as the back; remainder of tail dark rufous; throat, breast, and under side of body yellowish-grey. {61}Length of body, 8½ inches; tail, 13 inches; skull high and arched; outer and hinder portion of ear-capsules (periotic-bones) and squamosal swollen; frontal bone longer than in Opolemur and Chirogale; occiput less sloping from behind and above forwards and outwards. Upper median and posterior molars with one inner and two outer cusps, united by a curved ridge, cingulate all round, and with a small cusp or cingulum at the hind inner angle; posterior pre-molars smaller and shorter than the molars, with strong and vertically longer outer cusp, and a much more feeble inner cusp; posterior lower molar lengthened behind by a fifth cusp.