DISCONTINUOUS DISTRIBUTION OF MAMMALS, 689 



111 the American forms all three families show a develop- 

 ment of spines ; in the African group also both families are spiny. 

 The group corresponding to the Cricetidae is apparently only re- 

 presented in Northern Africa, i.e., really in the European area, 

 but it is, as already mentioned, represented by peculiar genera in 

 Madagascar. Is it not possible that the Aye- Aye (Chiixfmys) 

 is a specialised descendant of the squirrel-like Lemuroid, which 

 has also given rise to the Mascarene Hamster-like mice? 



From the above it will have been noticed, and such cases may 

 be much multiplied, that again and again we come to similar 

 groups at present widely separated geographically ; the usual 

 comment for such is that they are isolated survivals of old groups 

 formerly much more widely separated. Against this is the case of 

 modem groups (see Beddard, "Zoogeography"), showing the same 

 phenomenon : discontinuity of distribution, and also the absence 

 of proof of their former wider distribution. In connection here- 

 with one has only to call to mind that Old-World Catarrhina are 

 not found fossil in America, and the New-World Platyrrhina only 

 in America ; that it is doubtful whether any present Australian 

 Marsupials are fotmd fossil outside of Australia — ^the forms found 

 in Europe and America, if marsupials at all, may just as likely as 

 not be cases of parallel evolution ; that Lemurs are only found 

 fossil in Madagascar, the Lemuroids found elsewhere being still 

 ver}' generalised, showing both Lemur- and Primate- characters. 



I believe that the above considerations are sufifiiciently sug- 

 gestive to procure the extension of the scope of the already 

 accepted (think of the Edentata and Ratitae) theory of parallel 

 evolution in such a way that morphology will not remain the sole 

 guide of systematists in so far as they are dealing with groups of 

 a high order, but !hat the geographical destruction of the animals 

 concerned will receive at least as much attention. If this should 

 'be done — something I hardly dare to hope — there will be less like- 

 lihood of zoologists regarding comparative anatomy as the only, 

 or at any rate the chief, truly scientific part of their subject ; then 

 there would be some hope of revivifying this intensely interesting 

 subject. 



Grey University College, 

 Bloemfontein. 



CENTRAL AFRICAN FOLK-LORE TALES. 



By Rev. John Robert Lewis Kingon, M.A., F.R.S.E., F.L.S. 



{Not printed.) 



