48 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2 75 



fined to the more arid regions. Today, members of the genus Hip- 

 potigris are restricted to Africa south of the Sahara, and those of the 

 genus Panthera have a wide distribution, occurring in parts of central 

 and southern Africa and in central, Southwest, and Southeast Asia. 

 The genus Rhinoceros is today restricted to Southeast Asia. 



Most fossil mammals from other parts of North Africa are related to 

 species or genera now found only in the warmer tropical or subtropical 

 regions of Africa or Asia. Pleistocene fossils from North Africa are 

 listed by Osborn (1915) and include six species of elephants, including 

 the mastodon; two species of rhinoceroses; horses, representing ances- 

 tral zebras; wild asses, similar to the Ethiopian ass; camels, showing no 

 evidences of domestication; and cattle and buffalo. According to 

 Osborn, the disappearance of the buffalo from North Africa at the 

 beginning of the Recent Period was attributable to the increasingly 

 dry conditions and the result of destruction by early man. Other large 

 mammals known as fossils from North Africa consist of gnus (Conno- 

 chaetes Lichtenstein) ; several species of the water buffalo (Bubalus H. 

 Smith) ; nine species of gazelles (Gazella) ; oryx (Oryx Blainville) ; reed- 

 buck (Redunca H. Smith); several kinds of eland (Taurotragus Wag- 

 ner) ; dwarf antelopes or duikers (Cephalophus H. Smith) ; wild sheep 

 similar to the extant North African Barbary sheep (Ammotragus lerviu 

 Pallas) ; and wild goats (Capra Linnaeus). 



Fossil hippopotami have been found in ancient Pleistocene stream- 

 beds, one form being annectent to the existing hippopotamus of the 

 Nile River. Other fossils include wild boar (Sus Linnaeus) and wart 

 hogs (Phacochoerus G. Cuvier). 



Fossil carnivores from the Pleistocene of North Africa include 

 lions, leopards, hyaenas, jackals, and wolves. A fossil bear is known 

 from Pleistocene deposits of Algeria, and machairodonts (sabre- 

 toothed tigers) from the Pleistocene of Egypt. Fossil giraffe have been 

 found associated with Paleolithic stone implements, and giraffe and 

 a species of deer are depicted in rock drawings of Neolithic age in 

 Algeria. 



Judging from this impressive list of fossil mammals, much of the 

 mammalian fauna of North Africa and probably also that of the 

 Sahara, during the Pleistocene phi vials, resembled in composition 

 the fauna which today is typical of the high African plains and of the 

 tropical lowlands of central and southern Africa. 



The buffalo (Bubalus), the rhinoceros (Rhinoceros), and the wild 

 goat (Capra) clearly represent contingents of the Asian fauna into 

 the Pleistocene of North Africa. 



It is well established that animal (mammalian) populations do not 

 preserve their distributional patterns indefinitely but are continually 

 expanding and/or contracting in accordance with the prevailing 



