FOSSIL MAMMALS 
371 
ghino’s * arguments in favour of this union of South America 
and Africa are not founded on any palaeontological resem¬ 
blance between these two continents, but rather on the affinity 
of the fossil mammals of South America to those of Europe, 
Asia and North America. Since I have shown that until 
about Oligocene times southern Europe was connected by 
land with western South America, by way of the West Indies 
and part of Central America, there does not seem to be any 
necessity for a second land bridge further south in order to 
account for the mammalian affinities existing between South 
America and Europe as well as Asia and North America. 
Professor Osborn does not recognise the existence of any 
former land bridge during the age of mammals between South 
America and the Old World except by way of North America. 
Mr. Lydekker f argues that the only marked community 
between the Ethiopian and Neogaeic( South American)faunas 
as regards mammals, relates to the hystricomorphous rodents, 
but he thinks this community is a very marked one and diffi¬ 
cult to explain on any other hypothesis than that of a land 
connection between the two areas. The Hystricomorpha are 
a section of the rodent mammals, well distinguished by mor¬ 
phological characters from the other sections of that order. 
It is of the greatest importance to note that this hystrico¬ 
morphous section is now confined to Africa and America, 
with the exception of a couple of genera which range into 
southern .Europe and Asia. The centre of distribution is 
no doubt South America. If they had passed from there to 
Africa, we should expect them to be found in Brazil and 
western Africa. Let us examine the two closely related 
families of Octodontidae and Ctenodactylidae, which are in¬ 
cluded in the section Hystricomorpha. The first is con¬ 
fined to South America, the other to Africa. Of the former 
it is the sub-family Octodontinae which is nearest related 
to the Ctenodactylidae, and almost entirely confined to 
Argentina and the west coast of South America. Only a few 
species like Ctenomys brasiliensis and Ct. minutus really 
enter Brazil. The extinct species are all but one confined to 
* Ameghino, F., “ Formations s6dimentaires,” pp. 281—2S7. 
t Lydekker, B., “History of Mammals,” p. 127. 
B B 2 
