94 THE GEOGRAPHY OF MAMMALS 



The second peculiar Rodent of family rank is Lophiomys, 

 a curious arboreal animal allied to the rats, but differing 

 from them in several anatomical features, and in having 

 a long crest of hair upon the back. Only one species is 

 known, which is restricted to North-East Africa. 



The distribution of a third Ethiopian family of Rodents 

 (Octodontidte) is particularly interesting, as it is represented 

 in South America by a considerable number of genera, 

 and is not found elsewhere except in the Ethiopian and 

 on the borders between the Ethiopian and Palsearctic 

 Regions. There are four African genera of this family, 

 each with a single species, so that in the Old World the 

 group appears to be in a state of decay. The only light 

 thrown on this curious case of discontinuous distribution 

 is the occurrence of a fossil genus (Pellegrinia) allied to 

 the African forms in the Pleistocene beds of Sicily. This 

 indicates that members of this family once had a wider 

 distribution northwards than what they now retain. 



The Carnivora are well represented in the Ethiopian 

 Region. This is especially the case with the family of 

 Civets (Viverridse), only found elsewhere in the Pate- 

 arctic and Oriental Regions. Out of a total number of 

 seventeen genera, three only are found outside this region, 

 and out of the remaining fourteen, six are confined to the 

 island of Madagascar. 



The Aard-wolf (Proteles), which is so distinct from its 

 fellow Carnivores as to be allowed to constitute a family 

 of itself (Fig. 17, p. 95), is restricted to the Ethiopian Region, 

 and of the Hyenas (Hy&nidse), only one of the three 

 species strays outside its limits, into the western borders 

 of the Oriental Region. 



Another remarkable fact about the Ethiopian Carni- 



