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Archaeolemuridae

Family

Description

This family had relatively large brains, the tooth combs that characterize the strepsirrhines were replaced in favor of thick nipping incisors, and they had bilophodont teeth (two transverse ridges on the crowns of the molar teeth). For these reasons, they are commonly referred to as the “monkey lemurs.” They were stocky and had hands and feet with broad terminal phalanges on all the digits (Godfrey and Jungers, 2002). They were clearly terrestrial but would also have climbed in trees. In trying to envisage their general lifestyle, they have been compared to macaques and baboons (Lamberton, 1938; Tattersall, 1973a, 1982) (Figs. 3.4 and 3.8).

The genus Archaeolemur, represented by at least two species (Archaeolemur edwardsi and A. majori), is perhaps the most widely distributed of all the subfossil lemur genera, having been found in abundance at sites in the south, southwest, center, northwest and north of Madagascar. Body weight is estimated at 15–25 kg (Jungers et al., 2002). The molar teeth resemble those of Old World monkeys in being bilophodont, with two transverse crests, which suggests a diversified diet that might have included frugivory, seed predation, and omnivory (Godfrey et al., 2004a). Archaeolemur was a deliberate quadruped and among the most terrestrial of the extinct lemurs, although it seems likely that it also frequented trees to feed and sleep. It is believed to have survived in northern and northwestern Madagascar until A.D. 1047–1280, and possibly later (Burney et al., 2004).

The genus Hadropithecus is considered a sister taxon to Archaeolemur. and only one species is thus far known—Hadropithecus stenognathus, which weighed approximately 27–35 kg (Jungers et al., 2002) (see Fig. 3.4). Like Archaeolemur, it is also thought to have had a varied diet and to have been a semi-terrestrial quadruped that spent at least some time in the trees (Jungers et al., 2002; Godfrey et al., 2004a). It was less agile than Archaeolemur, having no suspensory or leaping abilities (Walker et al., 2008), and it apparently died out much sooner, populations persisting in southwestern Madagascar only until about A.D. 444–772 (Burney et al., 2004).

In 1995, Burney and Ramilisinona (1998) interviewed elderly Malagasy in three villages on the southwest coast of Madagascar. Several of the elders related having seen and heard animals that do not match any of today’s species. One of these was the Kidoky, the description of which the authors concluded was “decidedly lemur-like.” Their descriptions of the animal and its behaviors were like those of creatures detailed in historical accounts and folklore recorded in Madagascar between the mid-1600s and the end of the 19th century. Conferring with W. L. Jungers, the authors concluded the likelihood that, considering its reported size (perhaps 25 kg), terrestriality, and baboon-like gait, the most plausible candidates for the Kidoky were Archaeolemur and Hadropithecus.

Family order: 
2