Lemur
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Lemur. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the name of the typical of the sub-family Lemurinæ. genus the Habitat, Madagascar and the adjacent ly Le islands. It contains many species. Genthe eric characteristics: Long snout, small specie flat skull, long body, with narrow flanks. Hind limbs rather longer than the fore, long furry tail, hands and feet short, with a broad great toe; ears tufted or hairy, and moderate in length. In some kinds the head is surrounded by a ruff of fur; the color varies even in individuals of the same species. The true ever diurnal arboreal animals, lemurs are principally frugivorous, but feeding occaores sionally on birds' eggs, and even small birds. The Galeopithecidæ or flying lemurs are represented by a single genus including a few species. The flying membrane or patagium, from which their peculiar characteristics are derived, connects the fore and hind limbs, extending along the sides of the body and of the neck, and also joins the hind limbs and tail. The gold; salt, coal, ferous lead exist membrane also unites the digits of the mammoth ivory foot, and is hairy on both sides. The fore limbs are longer and more powerful delta. gold; se than the hind limbs. These forms are
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
lemur, a group of four-handed animals very closely allied to the monkey. There are some thirty species, all natives of Madasgascar. The largest is about as large as a cat, and has a tail much longer than the body. Lemurs live chiefly in forests, climbing trees with the agility of a squirrel, and subsisting in part, at least, on insects and small animals. In their movements they are as graceful and noiseless as a weasel. While undoubtedly related to the monkey, they are much more attractive and make less mischievous though not as intelligent pets. The lemur corresponds to the marmoset of Mexico and South America . See Monkey
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Both accounts are out of date on basic classification. The "flying lemurs" Collier's described in 1921 are not lemurs at all: colugos are now placed in their own order, Dermoptera, and are not even primates in the lemur line. Aiton's tally of "some thirty species" in 1910 has grown past a hundred, mostly through DNA work since the 1990s that split look-alike populations; the same period identified Madame Berthe's mouse lemur, at about 30 grams the smallest living primate. Aiton's "four-handed animals" (Quadrumana) is a discarded category, and the animals themselves are now reckoned the most threatened group of mammals on earth, with nearly all Madagascar's species listed as endangered or worse as forest cover falls.
Written for this edition, 2026.