AFRICA AND ITS ANIMALS 139 



being taken by the bush-pigs and the hideous wart-hogs, 

 both of which are among the most characteristic of African 

 animals. Except for a couple of species of ibex in the hills 

 of the north-east, sheep and goats are likewise unknown 

 in a wild state. Among other absentees in the fauna, 

 special mention may be made of marmots, and their near 

 allies the susliks, as well as of voles, beavers, and moles. 



Of the mammals (and space permits of scarcely any 

 reference to other groups) which may be regarded as 

 characteristic of typical Africa as a whole, the following, in 

 addition to the bush-pigs and wart-hogs already mentioned, 

 are some of the most important. Among the monkeys the 

 most widely distributed are the hideous baboons {Papio\ 

 now restricted to Africa and Arabia, the southern portion 

 of the latter country being included in the same great 

 zoological province. The guenons {Cercopithecus), species 

 of which are the monkeys commonly led about by organ- 

 grinders, have also a wide distribution on the continent, 

 although of course more abundant in the forest regions 

 than elsewhere ; and the guerezas {Colobus), one of which 

 is described in a later article, have also a considerable 

 range. In a totally different group, the curious little 

 jumping-shrews {Macroscelides) form a peculiarly charac- 

 teristic family of African mammals belonging to the 

 insectivorous order. There are also many peculiar genera of 

 mongooses, but as most of these have a more or less local 

 distribution, they can scarcely be considered characteristic 

 of the continent as a whole ; still, they are quite different 

 from those found elsewhere. A very curious carnivorous 

 mammal known as the aard-wolf {Protelcs), strikingly like 

 a small striped hyaena, is not the least peculiar among the 

 animals of Africa, where it has a comparatively wide range. 

 The hunting-dog {Lycaon), which presents a considerable 



