Quadrumana—The Four-Handed Mammals.
WE will begin with the Monkey family in learning about our animal friends, because they resemble mankind more closely than any other animal. Although Darwin and other Naturalists have spent years of their lives in tracing the resemblances between the Human and the Monkey family we had much rather trace the points of difference, for it is not pleasant to claim a very close relationship to some of the hideous monsters who make their homes in the dense forests or distant countries.
Although the formation of the body, especially the skull, and the features, are more like ours, than are those of other animals, the first great point of difference is their four hands, those of the legs being formed the same as those of the arm, with thumbs and long flexible fingers, which enables them to climb trees quickly and swing from branch to branch with fearless activity, because they can grasp the limbs of the trees with any one of their four hands. Some of them also use their tails to assist them in climbing, and the Monkeys are sometimes classified under the “prehensile tailed” and the “non-prehensile” tailed according to whether the tails are formed for seizing or grasping the limbs of the trees. And there is still another family of tailless Monkeys.
But while many of the different Monkeys are very active in trees, in which they spend the greater part of their time, when in their native homes, this formation of hands instead of feet on their legs, makes them very awkward when standing erect or walking. Even in the most man-like Apes, these hands that serve as feet, are not placed at right angles to the legs, so as to come flat upon the ground like ours; but when the legs are extended, the soles nearly face each other, so that, when erect, the whole weight of the body rests upon the outer edge of the sole of this strange foot, or as it should be more properly called, the palm of the hand. In addition to this peculiarity, the legs are bent inwards to enable them firmly to grasp the boughs of the trees, and this makes them very awkward when trying to walk upright on the ground.
Their arms are also very much longer than ours, in proportion to the rest of the body, and in some families the fingers will almost touch the ground when the large animal is standing erect.
While the majority of the Monkey family have their faces covered with hair like the rest of the body, others have what are known as “naked faces,” with only a beard, or a fringe of whiskers about the chin and throat, and some of these are comically like a human face.
The great family of Quadrumana is divided in various ways by different Naturalists; but the easiest classification to keep in mind is the grouping of five distinct Orders, each made up of small families.
The first order—The Tailless Apes—includes the Gorilla, the Orang-Outang, and the Chimpanzee, and is called by some, Troglodytidae, from the Greek word troglodytes, meaning one who hides in caverns. Although this is a peculiarity of these Apes, this does not seem so good a classification as that given by another Naturalist who calls these the Anthropomorphous Monkeys because they so closely resemble the human species; the word Anthropomorphous comes from two Greek words meaning man and form, and signifies that which has the form of man.
The second order is the Simiadae—The Ape Monkeys—and the term comes from the Greek word simos, meaning flat-nosed; these have oblong heads and flat nostrils, and the same number of teeth as man, and many of them have cheek pouches in which they stow away food for future use. A few of the Simiadae are without tails, others have tails (of different lengths in the different families), but none of them have prehensile tails, that can be used to help them in climbing. All the different families belonging to this order are natives of the Old World, and the most of them are found in the forests and the mountainous districts of Western Africa.
The third order—Cebidae—includes the American Monkeys; and they are distinguished from the Monkeys of the Old World by having four more grinding teeth, making thirty-six in all instead of thirty-two. These American Monkeys have long tails and no cheek-pouches.
The fourth order—Lemuridae—includes the different Lemurs, and the word comes from Latin lemur, a sprite, a night-walker, so called from their habits of roaming about at night.
Some naturalists include in this order the Flying Cat, or Flying Lemur. Others make a distinct fifth order of this species. Although they resemble both a weasel and an ape, they have one peculiar formation that does not belong to either of these; the long slender limbs are connected by a broad, hairy membrane, which looks like a cloak when folded up, but which expands and gives the appearance of wings when the animal is springing from tree to tree.
Although each one of these orders contain many small families, until the different Monkeys seem numberless, yet they can all be classified in some one of these groups, and it is not so hard to remember the long names when we understand the meaning of the words from which they are derived.