ioo GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 



absent. These peculiarities of the fauna of Madagascar apparently 

 point, as previously mentioned, to its separation from the mainland 

 before the latter was overrun by the larger types, and at a time 

 when its chief mammals were Lemurs and Insectivores. There 

 are two genera of Edentates, the Pangolins (Manis), and the Aard- 

 vark (Orycterqpus), the latter being peculiar. 



Although the foregoing groups of mammals are now so 

 characteristic of the Ethiopian region, it cannot be too strongly 

 insisted that their restriction to this region is, so to speak, merely 

 a feature of the present day, and that at a late geological epoch 

 nearly all the peculiar genera Avere represented in India, and many 

 of them also in Europe. 



Oriental Region. — The third or Oriental region is likewise of very 

 considerable extent, and is the only one, in addition to the Ethiopian, 

 which is the home of huge Ungulates, like Elephants and 

 Rhinoceroses, and the large man-like Apes. A large proportion of 

 this extensive area is occupied by tropical and subtropical forests 

 and swamps ; these being especially abundant in Burma, Southern 

 China, Siam, and the southern ridges of the Himalaya, collectively 

 constituting the Indo-Chinese sub-region, and also in the Indo- 

 Malayan sub-region of the Malay peninsula and adjacent islands. 

 In the third or Indian sub-region, comprising peninsular India, with 

 the exception of the Carnatic, there are large tracts of open country, 

 including some of the hottest regions in the world, parts of which 

 form plains more or less covered with vegetation during the cooler 

 and rainy seasons, while others are barren rocky table-lands, as in 

 the Deccan, or arid deserts like those of parts of the Punjab and 

 Sind. Finally, in the fourth or Cingalese sub-region, represented 

 by the Carnatic and the island of Ceylon, we find vast areas of 

 luxuriant forest and jungle. In the north-western desert area of 

 the Indian sub-region the fauna includes a mixture of Palasarctic and 

 Ethiopian forms, Avith those characteristic of the Oriental region. 



Among the chief features of the mammalian fauna "of this 

 region we may notice the absence of Hippopotami and Giraffes, the 

 greatly diminished number of Antelopes, as compared with those 

 of Africa, and the abundance of Deer and true Pigs. The Antelopes 

 comprise the two peculiar genera Boselaphus (Nilghai) and the 

 typical Antilo'pe (Black-buck), each of which is represented by only 

 a single species, while the Deer belong to the so-called Rusine 

 group, which is markedly different from that to which the 

 Palsearctic Red Deer belongs. True Chevrotains (Tragidus) are 

 peculiar to this region. The Oxen include the true Buffalo, 

 differing in many respects from the African species of the same 

 group, and also certain species of true Oxen, such as the Gaour and 

 Banting, belonging to the Bibovine group, which is confined to this 

 region. In the Perissodactyla Horses (Equus) are represented 



