New-York tribune., 1896-12-27
4 NEW FAMILY or MONKEYS.
FOSSIL REMAINS OF A STRANGE TYPE
FOUND IN MADAGASCAR

FOUND IN MADAGASCAR
Whether one regards the various members OF the
monkey tribe distant relatives OF the humaD race
merely grotesque creatures. distinct ana re-
mote from in ancestry like the birds or hshes.
any wel.-authenticated discovery of a new iamhy
must be regarded as an Interesting scientific event
In a recent number Of The Geological Magazine
DR.. c. J. Forsyth Major describes some fossil re-
mains. which he says he found on the island oil
Madagascar. and which must afford doupie sur
prise TO zoologists-first. because the specimen be-
longs a type not hitherto recognized anywhere
the globe. and second because never untii now
has there been evidence tina, a true monkey had at
any time existed in Madagascar although ;he fauna
there includes what known as 'half-monkeys,
lemurs.
The unscientfc reader Will more readily get at
the significance, be It great small which this in
cident possesses. II he will first recall the general
gradatlons observed In that strange order OF ami
mails which has been suspected of having had
common parentage with man The lemurs. which
stand the bottom Of the scale. are not very far
removed in size and general appearance from the
rodents" or beavers. rabbits. squirrels. rats ana
mice. One Of the great differences between them
relates to the shape and number Of their teeth The
front teeth the rodents especially designed for
gnawing: those of the lemurs not. The rodents
have eyeteeth. and the lemurs have. The rodents
have only from twelve to twenty yeight teeih. while
the lemurs. or "half-monkeys' possess thirty-slx
Up at the other end OF the procession. next pehhu
man. come the apes. who have round short faces
and large bodies. show disposition TO rise upon
their hind legs 10 fight and walk. have no tails anu
in other respects closely approach in structure ana
Intellectual endonments the prehistoric people who
LEFT rude hunting and domestic implements in yari-
caves in Europe OF the four "eu-dehhed
genera Of apes the gorilla. chmpanzee. orang-
outang and gibbon the first mentioned presents the
closest resemblance 70 the human type. Between
the ape and the lemur finds the baboon. with
his long dog face. heavy ridges over the eyes ana
cheek pouches; other African and Asiatc monkeys.
closely resembling him but lacking some one of
these traits. and perhaps having much better de-
yelope1 thumb; and TWO general families OF Ameri-
can monkeys. Of which one is the bushy-tailed,
squrre-like little marmoset. and the other has
fiat nose. small ear, and thrty-sX tc'th. Des!ies
mn,kevs I, viii he nn,iced that fhe Iast-montoned
family has the same number of teeth as the ienurs.
although more highly organized in other respects.
All other monkeys and apes. ike man. have thirty
teeth. Besides the distinguishing marks already
referred there others. Of course-such as the
extent to which claws have become converted into
toe nails. the shape Of the brain. and the angle
which the face forms with the under siae OF the
Inasmuch as the specimen which DR.. Major has
found is fossil. and Is imperfect at mat no com
parison which would relate to pershabe tissues
can be made between 1t and other skeletons; In
fact the chief point OF study appears 10 nave Deer
the teeth In number these correspond exactly to
the dental outfits Of both the Malagasy lsmurs
But when their shape and function are considered
puzzling dssmilarites are detected. The
molars are monkeylike, the pre-moa lars three In
number. on each side of each jaw ally the animal
closely the Cebidse than to the lemurs.
and yet not exactly like those of either. The
absence Of teeth dfferentiates the creature still
further from both families and from the ape. The
front teeth also reveal a distinct lack OF resem-
bance to those of the lemur Dr. Major and other
biologists disposed to recognize the new found
type n distinct family from the Cebid9 and the
Cernopithicid1. or Ethiopian monkeys, but perhaps
intermediate between them. Professor l.ydekker.
In Mature" expresses the belief that the Neso-
pihecus DR.. Major calls the FOSSIL is not
direct ancestor of modern apes and monkeys but
connected the monkeys ana omurs No doubt the
discovery will stimulate other ne tEralists and geol-
ogists explore further, and II may not be long
before new light is obtained on the subject. either
the island of Madagascar or the continent OF
Africa.
In this connection it may be remarked that the
fossil skeletons which Eugene Dubois found In
Java three or four yeas ago seemed TO belong TO
n race resembling but superior to- the apes. and
"Pithecanthropus crectus." or rect-walkng. man.
Ike apes. But American experts were dis
posed TO consider II rather ape-like man.
closely related the beings whose remains have
been exhumed from the Neanderthal gorge. the
Mentone caves the Gibraltar quarries and other
places in Europe during the last forty years. The
Dubois discovery has been fully authenticated.
This. however. IS not true of the reported dis
covery of living of men with tails In the
this effect. told by Paul d Enjoy and published
few weeks ago in France. Is received with good
deal Of scepticsm by English anthropologists The
Frenchman describes this race. the Mos, as capa-
BILE Of talking. of using bows and poisoned arrows
and of building rude nuts, yet climbing trees as
like projections from their ankles. But MATURE
pokes fun IT, and hopes that 't will not be long
before these tailed men are carefully described by
several incredible features. but perhaps the most
doubt will be provoked by tho fact that In the
is long before the higher are reached, 10
say nothing OF the genus homo.