OCR Text |
Show 1867.] MR. J. GOULD ON A NEW CLIMACTERIS. 975 Before concluding this paper I wish to call attention to the new and fourth species of Lndris, lately discovered by M . A. Grandidier*, and described and figured by him, under the name Propithecus verreauxi, in a publication entitled 'Album de l'ile de la Reunion,' 1866-67. It is from the arid south and south-west coasts of Madagascar, and is called by the natives " Sifak." A fine specimen of this animal has been recently acquired by the British Museum from Paris. Its anterior teeth (the only ones visible) agree with those of the other Lndrisince, especially with those of I. diadema, the anterior pair of upper incisors being considerably larger than the posterior pair. That agreement I fully expect will be found to extend through its whole organization ; but before long M . Alphonse Milne-Edwards will supply us with full information on the subject. The more I have of late considered the species of Indris, the more I am disposed to think that the great peculiarities of the dentition, the remarkable structure of the carpus (without an os intermedium), and of the pelvis and vertebral column may hereafter be found to accompany other differences, together warranting the elevation of the group to the rank of a distinct family of the Lemuroidea. But on this question we shall be able soon to form a well-grounded judgment, as amongst the treasures lately brought by M. A. Grandidier from Madagascar is a specimen of the group preserved in spirit. It is a matter of congratulation that so interesting an object should have fallen into the able hands it has; and thus a form closely allied to that originally described by Bennett under the name Propithecus diadema^ will, like Cryptoprocta ferox (also originally described and named by the same naturalist J), receive its full elucidation from the labours of M . Alphonse Milne-Edwards §. 3. On the Australian Genus Climacteris, with a Description of a N e w Species. By J O H N G O U L D , F.R.S. &c. Few of the genera constituting the avifauna of Australia are more distinct and remarkable than that named Climacteris, the members of which, like the Certhia familiaris of our own island, are especially adapted for creeping over the surfaces of large trees ; they are, however, as structurally distinct from our well-known Creeper as they are from the Sittce or Nuthatches, of both of which genera no species has yet been found in Australia. Their food principally consists of insects, which they procure among the interstices in the bark of the trees, or on the ground around the base of their boles. * I have now (February 1868) received letters from M . Alphonse Milne-Edwards and from M . A. Grandidier, informing m e of the discovery by the latter gentleman of a new Lemuroid, which has been named by him Cheirogaleus sa-mati. The species is remarkable for an immense accumulation of fat in the tail, -recalling to mind the well-known African Sheep. t P. Z. S. 1832, p. 20. % Trans. Zool. Soc. vol. i. p. 137, pl. 21. § Memoir by Messrs. A. Milne-Edwards and A. Grandidier, Ann. des Sc. Nat 1867, vol. vii. series 5, p. 321. |