102 ORIENTAL REGION. [CH. II 



not generically identical, Angwantibo (Arctocebus), are the 

 lemurs which are confined to this sub-region. Potamogale, 

 an Insectivore with the appearance and the habits of an 

 otter, and Hyomoschus complete the list of the more 

 salient mammalian types which are West- African. Among 

 birds perhaps the most remarkable form is a species of 

 Pitta, the only species of this oriental genus which reaches 

 Africa at all. The birds are on the whole not remarkable 

 or distinctive. 



III. The South-African sub-region is bounded to the 

 north entirely by the East- African region, which here as 

 well as to the north of the West- African sub-region 

 extends right across the continent. The sub-region has 

 one family to itself, the Chrysochloridse or Golden moles. 

 The Hysenoid genus Proteles and the Hunting dog Lycaon 

 are peculiar to it. Bathyerges and the jumping hare 

 Pedetes are among the eighteen genera of mammals 

 which are peculiar to South Africa. The birds are not 

 remarkable. 



IV. The Mascarene sub-region is dealt with below. 



IV. The Oriental region. 



To this region Mr Sclater at first gave the name of 

 " Indian " ; but Mr Wallace proposed to replace this name 

 by the more general expression " oriental," a suggestion 

 which has met with Mr Sclater's approval. This region 

 comprises not only the peninsula of India and the more 

 tropical parts of China, but it includes also a large pro- 

 portion of the islands of the eastern archipelago. The 



