60 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2 75 



representatives of the central Asian fauna with Eurasian affinities and 

 occur marginally in the Saharo-Sindien Region. 



The palm squirrel Funambulus occurs in Baluchistan and represents 

 an encroachment of the Indian fauna into the extreme southeastern 

 portion of the Saharo-Sindien Region. 



Examples of the European rodent fauna which have entered North 

 Africa include the dormouse, Eliomys quercinus; the Palestine mole 

 rat, Spalax ehrenbergi; the vole, Microtus mustersi; and the field 

 mouse, Apodemus sylvaticvs Linnaeus. As discussed earlier, these 

 species probably entered North Africa during one of the pluvials of 

 the Pleistocene. 



The Barbary ground squirrel, Atlantoxerus getulus, the only North 

 African squirrel, and the Barbary striped mouse, Lemniscomys barbarus, 

 are notable exceptions in the North African fauna and are related to 

 the fauna of central and southern Africa. These two species are limited 

 respectively to the Algerian Atlas and to the less arid parts of Algeria 

 and Morocco. The genus Atlantoxerus is monotypic, but Lemniscomys 

 is composed of several central African species. Ellerman and Morrison- 

 Scott (1951) consider this North African species of Lemniscomys to be 

 conspecific with one of the central African species. 



Some African rodents which encroach into portions of the southern 

 Saharan steppe include: the sciurids Euxerus Thomas and Heliosciurus 

 Trouessart; the dormouse Graphiurus Smuts; the cricetid genera 

 Taterillus Thomas and Desmodilliscus Wettstein, and numerous murid 

 genera including Arvicanfhis Lesson, Mastomys Thomas, Praomys 

 Thomas, and Grammomys Thomas. 



The various penetrations of the European and African rodent faunas 

 into marginal portions of the Sahara and the intrusions of the Eurasian 

 and Indian faunas into portions of Southwest Asia do not refute the 

 hypothesis of a Saharo-Sindien Faunal Region. The indigenous rodent 

 fauna (and the nonrodent fauna) of these low latitude deserts of the 

 Old World differs markedly from that of adjoining Eurasia, India, and 

 Africa and clearly justifies the formation of this new zoogeographic 

 region. 



The rodent fauna of the Russian steppes and the high latitude 

 deserts of Manchuria and Mongolia contains some genera which occur 

 in the northern portions of Southwest Asia, particularly in the vast 

 steppe region east of the Caspian Sea. Probably it was this arid region 

 east of the Caspian Sea which served as the center of differentiation 

 for most of the rodents now comprising the Saharo-Sindien Faunal 

 Region. The rodent faunas of the Gobi Desert, the Takla Makan of 

 Sinkiang, and other cold deserts of central Asia probably represent an 

 outgrowth of the Saharo-Sindien fauna which has since become 

 adapted to cold, arid climates. 



