20 BIOLOGICA^- SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



pelago and Philippine Islands. In it are found ;^^ families of ter- 

 restrial mammals, 71 families of birds (according to Wallace), 25 

 families of reptiles, 9 of amphibians, and 15 of fresh- water fishes. 

 Of these, 12 are peculiar, viz: among mammals, the Tarsiidre, 

 Galeopitnecidfe, and Tupaiidse ; among birds, the Liotrichidae, 

 Phyllornithidfe, and Eurylaemidte ; among reptiles, t!he Xenopeltidae, 

 Uropeltidte, and Acrochordidse ; and among fishes, the Lucioceph- 

 alidse, Ophiocephalid^, and Mastacembelidoe. As in the case of 

 other regions, there is considerable diversity of opinion as to its 

 relations to others, and as to its several subdivisions. 



IV. THE AFROG^AN REALM. 



The African or Ethiopian Realm, as the name indicates, in- 

 cludes the greater part of the African continent, but not all, it be- 

 ing limited on the N. by the Desert of Sahara, although on all 

 other sides bounded by the ocean ; but it also comprises the island 

 of Madagascar and the Mascarenes, as well as, according to some 

 recent authors, the peninsula of Arabia. It is distinguished es- 

 pecially in that it possesses the highest types, after man, of the order 

 Primates, and which are in all respects the most anthropoid. This 

 region is also further distinguished by the restriction to it of as 

 many as ten isolated families of mammals, viz : Daubentoniidce, 

 Cryptoproctidae, Protelidse, Camelopardidae, Hippopotamidee, Loph- 

 iomyidse, Centetid?e, Potamogalidae, Chrysochloridae, and Orycter- 

 opidse. Among birds, there are six so-called families peculiar to 

 it — Paictidte, Musophagid^e, Coliidae, Leptosomidce, Irrisoridte, 

 and Serpentariidoe. The most marked, however, are the fishes, of 

 which there are fourteen families ; of these, five are peculiar, viz : 

 Pantodontidae, Kneriidae, Mormyridae, Gymnarchidte, and Polyp- 

 teridse, and three are shared with South America alone — Cichlidffi, 

 Characinidte, and Lepidosirenidae. This realm, like all the others, 

 has been subdivided by Wallace into four regions, or, as he desig- 

 nates -them, " subregions," viz; (a) the East African, (^) the 

 West African, (<r) the South African, and (</) the Malagassy. 



