Lemurian.

1864 P. L. Sclater in Q. Jrnl. Sci. I. 219 In Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands we have existing relics of this great continent, for which as the original focus of the ‘Stirps Lemurum’, I should propose the name Lemuria!

1876 A. R. Wallace Geogr. Distrib. Animals I. iv. 76 Lemuria..is undoubtedly a legitimate and highly probable supposition, and it is an example of the way in which a study of the geographical distribution of animals may enable us to reconstruct the geography of a bygone age.

1880 A. R. Wallace Island Life ii. xix. 398 Atlantis is now rarely introduced seriously... But ‘Lemuria’ still keeps its place—a good example of the survival of a provisional hypothesis which offers what seems an easy solution of a difficult problem..long after it has been proved to be untenable.

1944 ‘Palinurus’ Unquiet Grave iii. 85 To have set foot in Lemuria is to have been close to the mysterious sources of existence... Wild ghost faces from a lost continent who will soon be extinct.

1957 P. J. Darlington Zoogeogr. x. 590 Some persons have claimed a broad connection or union of Africa, Madagascar, and India even in the Tertiary and have named it Lemuria, but there is decisive evidence against it.