On Anomalurus, its structure and position / by Edward R. Alston.

  • Edward Richard Alston
Date:
1875
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On Anomalurus, its structure and position / by Edward R. Alston. 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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    Galeopithecus, founded on the compression of the toes and claws, seems too fanciful to require discussion, though by a curious co- incidence the caeca of the two animals are somewhat similar in appearance. What may have been the causes of the wonderful modification of the alimentary system and the subsidiary parts of the skull in Anomalurus is more doubtful. The facts seem to point to the effect of a more dry and innutritious diet. Beyond Temminck’s statement that “ ils se nourrissent de fruits,” nothing has been recorded of the food of the Anomalures ; and the contents of the stomachs of the specimens 1 have examined were unfortunately too well digested to yield much information. That of A. pelii, however, contained a quantity of long vegetable fibres, which seems not unfavourable to the idea that they may live principally either on dry and stringy fruit or on leaves. A further question, and one perhaps incapable of a satisfactory solution, remains. Is Anomalurus more closely allied to Pteromys and Sciuropterus than to the non-volant genera of the family ? or are their resemblances an instance of the independent origin of similar structures ? The development of a flying-expansion in itself naturally points to the former view, while the remarkable difference in the attachment and course of its expanding cartilage seems to be in favour of the latter. The geographical distribution of the two groups is worthy of note. As for as we know at present, the Anomalures appear to be confined to a limited region of West Africa, extending from the equator to about 15° north latitude, whereas no species either of Pteromys or Sciuropterus seems ever to have been met with in any part of the Ethiopian region. If the above views are correct the systematic position of the Anomalures is settled, and their rank will merely depend on the higher or lower value given to the whole sciurine group of ro- dents. If the latter is regarded as a family, then the Ano- malurince will be a subfamily of Sciuridee; if as a separate section of the order, the Anomalurulce will form one of the constituent families of the Sciuromorpha. In either case the characters will be the same as those proposed by Mr. Waterhouse for the only known genus. I now conclude with the synonymy, characters, and habitats of the known species of the genus. Species. 1. Anomalurus fraseri. 1842. Anomalurus fraseri, Waterhouse, P. Z. S. 1842, p. 124 ; Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. x. p. 201. 1842. Pteromys derbianus, Gray, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. x. p. 262. 1843. Anomulurus derbiatms, Gray, List Mamm. Brit. Mus. p.133. [9]