From J. E. Gray 7 April 1871
7.4.71
My dear Darwin
I do not know if the following observations are new to you as an instance of great difference between ♂—♀ and great variation in the ♂ and statiblity in the female
Lemur Macaco Linn
female only lately brought to Europe as far as we know is always Brown with, white whiskers1
L Lecomystax Bartlett P.Z.S2
Males except when pure white all over always have the Head hands & feet. Tail underside of Body and limbs, Black, Nape and ring round base of tail white. The of the fur is Red Chesnut, Reddis Grey or pure white in all the intermediate shades. The White backed variety sometime has a black patch on each houlder and on the front of the thighs The patches vary in size in different Specimens, sometimes very large, even so large as make the entire animal black L niger Geof3
Ever your sincerly | J E Gray
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Bartlett, Abraham Dee. 1862. Description of a new species of lemur. [Read 9 December 1862.] Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (1862): 347.
Descent: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1871.
Summary
Sexual differences in coloration in Lemur macaco.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-7663
- From
- John Edward Gray
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- unstated
- Source of text
- DAR 88: 98
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7663,” accessed on 29 May 2023, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-7663.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 19