Observations upon Presbytes albigena, Gray, and Colobus guereza, Rüppell / by James Murie.

  • Murie, James.
Date:
[1865]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations upon Presbytes albigena, Gray, and Colobus guereza, Rüppell / by James Murie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    resemblances to P. obscuriis, although it is more like P. melalophus, but diflfering from this in being black, and, as he says, can scarcely be a l)lack variety of that species. There was some doubt as to the African habitat of this new species, until M. du Chaillu brought home some skins of the animal from Gaboon, which cleared up that point. In remarking upon these specimens, a writer in the * Natural History Review' * expresses doubts as to the propriety of the species being classed along with the genus Preshytes, The writer remarks— Now that its African habitat is fully established, a more accurate examina- tion will probably show the necessity of removing this Monkey from the Asiatic group Preshytes, with which it has been hitherto arranged. To a certain extent this has already been done, although clear reasons, so far as I am awave, have never been given. The stuffed skin of the typical specimen, mentioned above, is at present in the British Museum, marked Preshytes albigena. Gray; but the skull of the same I find, on reference to the published ' Catalogue of Bones of Mammalia,' 1861, p. 14, to be named Cercocebus albigena. A specimen of this rather rare creature having lately died at the Society's Gardens, my attention has been called to its greater affinities with Cercocebus than that of Semnopithecus {Preshytes). The ani- mal in question was a female from Africa, about half-grown, and sent on approval by Mr. Cross, dealer, Liverpool. It lived in the Gar- dens for a period of two months, and died the latter end of October (18G5). From the first it was weakly and delicate, but took its food tolerably well. As the creature was apparently younger than the typical specimen described by Dr. Gray, it may be worth while noting the differences. His description of colour and general appearance agrees closely ; but in the present one the throat, sides of neck, and front of chest were not quite greyish, but rather of a dirty-brown colour; hair of the cheeks also of the same shade, some of them black and not greyish ; iris yellowish brown, pupil dark blue. The following are the dimensions, as taken after death:— inches. Length, body, back of neck to root of tail 11 , tail 22| , head, muzzle to occiput 6| , head, muzzle to base of ear in straight line 3 , head, across cranial vault to meatus .... 5| , arm, shoulder-joint to wrist 8^ , palm of hand to tip of fingers 3| , leg, trochanter to ankle , sole of foot, heel to tip of third toe 5 • , ear, from above downwards l^- , ear, from before backwards ^ * The Fauna of Equatorial Africa (N. H. R. 18G1, p. 292), being a cri- lioal review, chiefly based upon the works of the trnvellcr M. P. B. duCliaillu and of the naturalist Dr. G. ITai-llaub of Bremen. [2]