First lesson in zoology : adapted for use in schools . posture is semi-erect; they are tailless; thefore legs are much longer than the hind legs, and used asarms, the radius being capable of complete pronation andsupination. In the form of their skull, of their brain withits convolutions, and in the teeth, there is a still nearer ap-proach to man. There are four typical forms or genera of apes, , thegibbon {Hylobates); the orang {Mimetes pitliecvs), thechimpanzee [Mimetes niger), and the gorilla. The gib-bons are nearest to the monkeys; they are little less thana metre (3 feet) in height,
First lesson in zoology : adapted for use in schools . posture is semi-erect; they are tailless; thefore legs are much longer than the hind legs, and used asarms, the radius being capable of complete pronation andsupination. In the form of their skull, of their brain withits convolutions, and in the teeth, there is a still nearer ap-proach to man. There are four typical forms or genera of apes, , thegibbon {Hylobates); the orang {Mimetes pitliecvs), thechimpanzee [Mimetes niger), and the gorilla. The gib-bons are nearest to the monkeys; they are little less thana metre (3 feet) in height, and are very slender, withyery long arms, so that they are rapid, agile climbers, also 266 FIRST LESSONS IN ZOOLOOT. running over the ground with ease and rapidity; whenstanding erect the fingers touch the ground; only thethumbs and great toes have true nails, in all the higherapes the nails of all the digits being flattened ; the spinalcolumn is nearly straight; they have fourteen pairs ofribs. The orang (Fig. 364) dwells in Sumatra and Borneo, be-. Fio. 264.—Orang-outang or Mias. ing confined to those two islands; it is 4 feet 6 inches tall;it has twelve pairs of ribs, the same number as in man;the arms are very long, stretching 7 feet 9 inches, andreaching the ground, so that in walking the creature restson its knuckles, swinging the body through its long armsas if walking on crutches; its posture is only partiallyerect. The forehead is less strongly marked than in theother apes, showing better the shape of the skull. THE DOOILB MAMMALS. 267 The chimpanzee (Fig. 365) and gorilla are confined tothe west coast of Africa. The chimpanzee {Mimetes niger)inhabits the coast from Sierra Leone to Congo. It is about
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1894
