Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S., North Finchley.
A DWARF LEMUR.
These tiny animals take the place of the dormouse in Madagascar.
Madagascar is the main home of the lemurs, though some of the related animals are also found in Africa and in the East Indies. But the dense forests of the great island are full of these curious nocturnal beasts, of which there are so many varieties presenting very slight differences of form and habit, that naturalists have some difficulty in giving even a complete list of their species. Add to this that nearly all of them are intensely and entirely nocturnal, and the scarcity of data as to their habits is easily accounted for. When seen by us, their faces all lack expression—that is to say, the eyes, which mainly give expression, seem entirely vacant and meaningless. But this is due to their special adaptation to seeing in the dark tropical night. By day the pupil of the eye almost disappears. If only we could also see in the dark, the eyes of the lemur might have as much expression as those of a faithful dog. The change which night makes in their general demeanour is simply miraculous. By day many of them are like hibernating animals, almost incapable of movement. When once the curtain of night has fallen, they are as active as squirrels, and as full of play as a family of kittens. The Ring-tailed Lemur is often kept as a pet, both in Madagascar and in the Mauritius. It is one of the very few which are diurnal in their habits. When in a hurry it jumps along, standing on its hind feet, like a little kangaroo, but holding its tail upright behind its back. It will follow people upstairs in this way, jumping from step to step, with its front paws outstretched, as if it were addressing an audience. The French call these day lemurs Makis. The ring-tailed lemur lives largely among rocks and precipices. Most of these creatures live upon fruit, the shoots and leaves of trees, and other vegetable food. But, like the squirrel, they have no objection to eggs and nestlings, and also kill and eat any small birds and insects. Some of the smaller kinds are almost entirely insect-feeders. The largest kind of lemur belongs to the group known as the Indris. The Black-and-white Indri measures about 2 feet in length. It has only a rudimentary tail, large ears, and a sharp-pointed nose. The amount of white colouring varies much in different individuals. This variation in colouring—a very rare feature among wild mammalia, though one of the first changes shown when animals are domesticated—is also found in the next three species, called Sifakas. The Diademed Sifaka, the Woolly Indri, and the Black Indri all belong to this group. The Sifakas, as some of these and the allied forms are called, are venerated by the Malagasys, who never kill one intentionally. Mr. Foster observes that "they live in companies of six or eight, and are very gentle and inoffensive animals, wearing a very melancholy expression, and being as a rule morose, inactive, and more silent than the other lemurs. They rarely live long in captivity. In their native state they are most alert in the morning and evening, as during the day they conceal themselves under the foliage of trees. When asleep or in repose, the head is dropped on the chest and buried between the arms, the tail rolled up on itself and disposed between the hind legs. The sifakas live exclusively on vegetable substances, fruits, leaves, and flowers, their diet not being varied, as in the other lemurs, by small birds, eggs, or insects. Their life is almost entirely arboreal, for which the muscles of their hands and feet, as well as the parachute-like folds between their arms and bodies, and their peculiar hooked fingers, are well fitted. The young one is carried by the mother on its back, its hands grasping her armpits tightly."
Photo by L. Medland, F.Z.S.] [North Finchley.
BLACK LEMUR.
Found on the coast of Madagascar.
This is not the universal way of carrying the young among lemurs. The Crowned Lemur, a beautiful grey-and-white species, often breeds at the Zoo. The female carries its young one partly on its side. The infant clings tightly with arms and tail round the very slender waist of the lemur, and pushes out its sharp little face just above the thigh of the mother. The Woolly Indri has more woolly fur than the others of its tribe, a shorter nose, and a longer tail.