62 THE GEOGRAPHY OF MAMMALS 



The Carnivores, which follow next, are well represented 

 in the Neotropical Region, but belong generally to families 

 of wide distribution. But one family, the Raccoons 

 (Procyonidse), with the exception of a single genus 

 (jElurus), which is perhaps doubtfully referred to it, is 

 entirely confined to the New World. On the other hand, 

 the Viverridse, so widely spread in the Old World, are 

 entirely absent in America. 



With the exception of some four or five species of 

 Shrews, which have obviously spread southwards from the 

 Nearctic Region, wherein they are found in considerable 

 numbers, the Insectivores are represented in the Neotropical 

 Region only by a single remarkable family. This is the 

 Solenodont — a characteristic form of the Greater Antilles 

 — absolutely unknown elsewhere. The Insectivores are 

 usually considered to be the most generalised of all the 

 mammalian orders, and to be the least changed descendants 

 of the ancestral group from which most of the other orders 

 of mammals have originated. If this be the case, it seems 

 strange that we should find no traces of them on the 

 continent of South America, which was, doubtless, long 

 isolated from the rest of the world, and which still contains 

 many representatives of primitive and declining types. 

 The palseontological history of the Insectivores is, however, 

 as yet very incomplete, as very few fossil forms of this 

 order have been described. It is, therefore, possible that 

 when future discoveries have increased our knowledge on 

 this subject, this seeming anomaly may be explained. 



The Neotropical Bats (Chiroptera) are of much interest ; 

 they are included in three families, of which two ( Vesper- 

 tilionidse, and Emhallonuridse), although containing 

 several peculiar genera, are found in other parts of the 



