SOME TIBETAN ANIMALS. 435 



litled to be ranked as a distinct species, or whether it should be 

 regarded merely as a rariety of the chigetai, or wild ass of ]\Ion- 

 golia, and the lowlands of <:entral Asia generally, is a moot point. 

 But. be this as it may, the creature is absolutely confined to the 

 central desert i)lat(>au of Tibet, where in winter it develops a coat 

 as thick and rough as a door mat, in order to atford etfectual protec- 

 tion against the rigors of that season at such an altitude. 



In addition to the foregoing list of large mammals, Tibet is like- 

 Avise the home of a number of peculiar species of smaller size. 

 Among these it must, however, suffice to make mention of only two on 

 the present occasion. Firstly, there is a remarkable species of water 

 shrew, differing in many respects from the common water shrew 

 {Neo7ny8 fodiens), and accordingly referred to a genus by itself 

 under the name of Ncctogale elegans. Of that genus it is the sole 

 known re])resentative. AVhen Ave are 

 fully acquainted Avith it the Tibetan 

 palm civet {Paradoxurus lanif/er), 

 at present known only by a single 

 skin obtained so long ago as 1836, 

 Avill prove almost as interesting a 

 species, for it is quite probable that 

 it Avill turn out to be generally dis- 

 tinct from the palm civets of India 

 and the Malay countries, from Avhich 

 it difl'ers by its woolly coat. 



Such a large number of peculiar 

 generic and specific types of mam- fig. 5.— Head of kiang. 



mals restricted to a continental area 



of the comparatiA^ely small size of the Tibetan plateau is a feature 

 unparalleled elscAvhere, and to find an analogous instance Ave must 

 take the case of an island like Celebes, Avhich has been isolated for 

 ages from all surrounding lands. It Avould seem, therefore, that 

 Tibet has been similarlv isolated, so far as immigration and emicrra- 

 tion of its animal fauna is concerned, for a vast period of time; an 

 insulation due, doubtless, to its great elevation aboA'e the sea level, and 

 the consequent scA^erity of its climate and rarity of its atmosphere. 

 Climatic peculiarities of this nature can only be endured by animals 

 especially adapted to such conditions of existence, and it is accord- 

 ingly only natural to expect that Avhen once the Tibetan fauna had 

 become modified for the needs of its environment it Avould have re- 

 mained permanently isolated from that of the surrounding countries. 



