A naturalist in Madagascar: A record of observation, experiences, and impressions made during a period of over fifty years' intimate association with the natives and study of the animal & vegetable life of the islandSibree, James
History
A naturalist in Madagascar: A record of observation, experiences, and impressions made during a period of over fifty years' intimate association with the natives and study of the animal & vegetable life of the island
Sibree, James
Madagascar; Natural history -- Madagascar
During our stay at Ivòhitròsa we were surprised and delighted with
the brightness and intelligence of many of the native boys. Although
the dialectic differences of the Tanàla speech are many as compared
with the Hova form of Malagasy, we obtained a large vocabulary from
them as well as names of the forest birds and animals, and also those
of trees and fruits. And as these forests and their vicinity are
the home of several of the lemurs which have not yet been noticed
in these pages, I will here give some particulars of four or five
species.
The ring-tailed lemur (_Lemur catta_) is perhaps the best known
of all the lemuridæ, from its handsomely marked tail, which is
ringed with black and white bands, thus clearly distinguishing
it from all the other species of the sub-order. And while almost
every other lemur is arboreal, this species lives among the rocks,
over which they can easily travel, but can be only followed with
great difficulty. The palms of their hands are long, smooth and
leather-like, and so enable these animals to find a firm footing on
the slippery wet rocks. The thumbs on the hinder hands are very much
smaller than those of the forest-inhabiting lemurs, as they do not
need them for grasping the branches of trees. Their winter food is
chiefly the fruit of the prickly pear; while in summer they subsist
chiefly on wild figs and bananas. This species bears a sea voyage
fairly well, so that they are often seen in Mauritius and Réunion,
and even more distant places.
Another species of lemur, which inhabits the south-eastern forests,
is the broad-nosed gentle lemur (_Hapalemur simus_). This animal
is found among the bamboos, and it appears to subsist in a great
measure on the young shoots of that plant. For biting and mincing up
the stalks its teeth seem admirably adapted, as they are nearly all
serrated cutting teeth, and are arranged so as mutually to intersect.
It eats almost all the day long, and has a curious dislike of fruit.
It is furnished with a remarkably broad pad on each of the hinder
thumbs, so that it is able to grasp firmly even the smallest surfaces.
[Sidenote: MOUSE-LEMURS]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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