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Show 230 MR. P. L. SCLATER ON ANIMALS IN THE MENAGERIE. [Mar. 7, Male and Female. Lemur macaco, Schlegel, Ned. Tijdsch. iii. p. 67 ; Schl. et Poll. Faune de Mad. p. 1, ph i. Lemur niger, Sclater, P. Z. S. 1866, p. 1 ; Cat. of Vert. ed. iv. p. 12. In his new Catalogue of Monkeys, Dr. Gray has reunited this species, of which both sexes are now well known to us, to the Lemur varius oi Geoffroy, as Wagner (Saugeth. v. p. 142) and others have done before him. But there can be no doubt that, as already pointed out by Professor Schlegel *, the two species are quite distinct. Besides the differences noted by Professor Schlegel, the voice of Lemur varius is very loud, harsh, and powerful. Mr. Bartlett tells me he has heard it at least a mile off. But Lemur macaco has only a coarse grunting call-note, similar to that of most of the smaller Lemures. Within these last ten years we have had two of the former and four of the latter alive in the Gardens, and thus have had ample opportunities of observing them. Besides, as our last specimen oi Lemur varius was a female, we know that in this species the sexes are nearly alike. In Lemur macaco (sive niger) they are quite different. 13. LEMUR MONGOZ. (Plate XVI.) Just as was the case with the last-named species, I believe that, with Mr. Bartlett's excellent assistance, I have discovered, by observation of the living animals, that two Lemurs heretofore regarded as quite distinct are really male and female of the same species, to which the earliest name applicable appears to be Lemur mongoz of Linnaeus, founded on the " Mongooz " of Edwards (Gleanings, i. p. 12, t. 216). The females of this Lemur have been hitherto called in our Gardens Black-fronted Lemurs (Lemur nigrifrons), being, as I believe, the Lemur nigrifrons of Geoffroy (Ann. d. Mus. xix. p. 169), but not of F. Cuvier (Mamm. pl. 92 f). The males have been called the Yellow-cheeked Lemur (Lemur xanthomystax), but, no doubt, incorrectly, for the Lemur described and figured under that name by Dr. Gray (P. Z. S. 1863, p. 138, pl. xviii.) seems to be different. But the female is certainly the animal figured by F. Cuvier (Mamm. pl. 93) as "Le Maki a gorge blanche, femelle- Lemur dubius." All the " Yellow-cheeked Lemurs " we have had in the Gardens have, as far as I can ascertain, been males, and all the " Black-fronted " females. O n May 29th, 1857, we purchased a Black-fronted Lemur. This bred in 1865 with a male " Yellow-cheeked " Lemur, and produced a young one-a male, like its male parent. This was * " Ce L(§mur presente, et plus particulierement par les longs poils garnissant les oreilles, de l'affinite avec Lemur varius, Geoffroy-espece que fes naturalistes, successeurs de Linne, ont l'habitude de designer sous l'epithete de L. macaco. Mais ce veritable macaco s eloigne constamment du L. varius par sa gorge velue, un systeme de coloration assez diff<§rent, une taille moins forte et un pelage beaucoup moins fourni, moins touffu, et moins laineux." (Schlegel, Ned. Tijdschr. iii. p. 78.) t Cf. Van der Hoeven, Tijdsch. xi. p. 35. |