THE BIOLOGICAL REGIONS OF THE WORLD 451 



special group of monkeys with prehensile tails, llamas 

 (which are related to the camels), sloths, armadillos, 

 anteaters, guinea pigs or cavies, the chinchilla, the 

 capybara, and many others. Humming birds are 

 extremely numerous, and Wallace says : 'There is 

 no other continent or region that can produce such 

 an assemblage of remarkable and perfectly distinct 

 groups of birds ; and no less wonderful is its richness in 

 species, since these fully equal, if they do not surpass, 

 those of the two great tropical regions of the Eastern 

 Hemisphere combined." 



6. The Paltzarctic Region shows resemblances to the Paiaarctic 

 Oriental, just as the Nearctic does to the Neotropical. 



It is, however, a purely temperate region, in most re- 

 spects contrasting strongly with the tropical areas to 

 the south. Among its characteristic animals may be 

 enumerated the hedgehog, dormouse, chamois, and a 

 number of peculiar mice. The birds include a long and 

 varied series belonging to the thrush family, many larks 

 and starlings, pheasants and their relatives, etc. There 

 are numerous special types of amphibians, including 

 newts and salamanders, frogs and toads. 



7. The Ethiopian Region is remarkable for the num- Ethiopian 

 ber of large animals, such as the African elephant, 

 hippopotamus, giraffe, okapi, zebra, many genera of 

 antelopes, gorilla, chimpanzee, etc. Among the birds 



we think first of the ostrich. Madagascar is included 

 in the Ethiopian Region, but its biota is peculiar so 

 much so that some have wished to set it apart by itself. 

 It lacks the characteristic large animals of the African 

 mainland, and has a great variety of lemurs, strange 

 animals related to the monkeys but relatively primitive. 



8. The Oriental Region is most nearly related to the Oriental 

 Ethiopian. Its most characteristic creatures are the 



