Ixxviii GEOGUAPHICAI. DISTEIDUTIOX. 



general is more peculiar, both by the absence of some of the forms 

 found in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula and by the greater 

 percentage of autochthonous forms, and this is again borne out by 

 the Megachiropteran fauna of the island (absence of two Sumutran 

 genera, presence of one autochthonous genus, among ten forms six 

 autochthonous); the Ftero^nts rui/neri group is represented probably 

 all over the Solomon Islands, but it has ditferentiated into five 

 distinct species, one in the Bougainville group, a second on Yella 

 ].avella, a third in the New Georgia group, a fourth on Guadal- 

 canar, and the fifth on San Christoval. This (and a series of 

 similar examples might easily be adduced) tends to show that the 

 present distribution of the Megachiroptera has not been influenced 

 to any great, and as a rule not even to any appreciable, extent by 

 their power of flight ; if it had, the Fruit-bat fauna of one group 

 of islands could not, so commonly as is actnally the case, difl'er 

 from that of a neighbouring group or continent, and the tendency 

 to differentiation of insular species or forms would have been 

 neutralized by the free intercourse between neighbouring faunas. 



Etldojiian Herjion. 



13 genera, 32 si^ecies (3-1: forms). Of the four primary sec- 

 tions of Megachiroptera, one, the Bpomopltorus section (8 genera, 

 17 species, 19 forms), is entirely Ethiopian ; of the liousettus 

 section (9 genera, 125 species, 147 forms) three genera are repre- 

 sented in this region, Eidolon by two species, liousettus by seven, 

 and Pteropus by one ; the Cr/nopterus section (11 genera, 31 species, 

 41 forms) by one peculiar genus, Myonycle)-is (four species) ; the 

 Macroglossince (7 genera, 13 species, 21 forms) by one peculiar 

 genus, Megalo'ihssus (one species). Of the thirteen genera ten 

 are peculiar, viz. all except Eidolon (outside the Ethiopian region 

 occurring only in Madagascar), llmis^ttus, and Fterojms. Of the 

 tliirty-two species thirty are peculiar, viz. all except Rm'settus 

 cef/ifptiacus, which extends to the eastern Mediterranean subregion, 

 and liousettus arahiciis, which extends to Karachi. 



A subdivision of the Ethiopian region, on the basis of its 

 Megachiropt«ran fauna, is very simple indeed. The region falls 

 decidedly into two well-defined ])rovinces, viz. (1) the Wtst African 

 Province, i. e. the whole of the Guinea coast and Congo basin, east 

 to the western bank of Victoria Nyanza, south to Benguela and 

 Damaraland, thus approximately synonymous with the Great West 

 .\frican Forest llegion, though at least in the south-west extending 

 beyond the limits of the forest belt, and (2) the East African 

 Province, i. e. the eastern side of the continent from Erythrea and 

 Abyssinia in the north to the Cnpc Colony in the south. So sharp 

 is the contrast between the faunas of these two provinces that the 

 large majority of genera and species occurring in the former are 

 unknown in the latter, only a few species extending beyond its 

 limits to part of East Africa. A single species, Eidolon Jiehnnn, 

 seems to be thoroughlv common to both, ranging from Senegambia, 



