The geographical distribution of animals, with a study of the relations ...

202 ZOOLOGICAL GEOGRAPHY. [part hi.Mammalia.—There are a few groups of Paleearctic Mammaliathat are peculiar to this sub-region. Such are, Dama, thefallow deer, which is now found only in South Europe and NorthAfrica ; Psammomys, a peculiar genus of Muridse, found only inEgypt and Palestine ; while Ctenodactylus, a rat-like animalclassed in the South American family Octodontidse, inhabitsTripoli. Among characteristic genera not found in other subregions,are, Dysopes, a bat of the family Noctilionidoe; Macroscelides,the elephant shrew, in North Africa ; Genetta, thecivet, in South Europe ; Herpestes, the ichneumon, in NorthAfrica and (?) Spain ; Hyaena, in South Europe ; Gaizclla, Oryx,Alcephalus, and Addax, genera of antelopes in North Africaand Palestine ; Hyrax, in Syria : and Hystrix, the porcupine,in South Europe. Besides these, the camel and the horsewere perhaps once indigenous in the eastern parts of the subregion; and a wild sheep (Ovis musmon) still inhabits Sardinia,Corsica, and the mountains of the south-east of Spain. Thepresence of the large feline animals—such as the lion, theleopard, the serval, and the hunting leopard—in North Africa,together with several other quadrupeds not found in Europe,have been thought by some naturalists to prove, that this districtshould not form part of the Palrearctic region. No doubtseveral Ethiopian groups and species have entered it from thesouth, but the bulk of its Mammalia still remains Palsearctic,although several of the species have Asiatic rather than Europeanaffinities. The Macacus innuus is allied to an Asiaticrather than an African group of monkeys, and thus denotes anOriental affinity. Ethiopian affinity is apparently shown by thethree genera of antelopes, by Herpestes, and by Macroscelides ; butour examination of the Miocene fauna has shown that these wereprobably derived from Europe originally, and do not form anypart of the truly indigenous or ancient Ethiopian fauna. Againstthese, however, we have the occurrence in North Africa ofsuch purely Palaearctic and non-Ethiopian genera as Vrsus, Males,Putorius, Sus, Cervvs, Dama, Capra, Alactaga ; together withactual European or West Asiatic species of Canis, Genetta, Fclis,Putorius, Lutra, many bats, Sorex, Crocidura, Crossopus, Hystrix,