292 THE GEOGRAPHY OF MAMMALS 



Mountain-Antelopes, have a very different distribution. 

 They are absolutely unknown in the Ethiopian Region, 

 and are found mostly in the Paltearctic Region with stray 

 species in the Oriental and Nearctic Regions. The well- 

 known Chamois (Rupicapra) is the typical form of this 

 group. It is confined to the western portion of the 

 Palrearctic Region, and is the single species of the genus. 

 In Eastern Pakearctica it is represented by the genera 

 Cemas and Nemorhtedus, some species of which occur 

 also on the higher mountain-ranges of the Oriental 

 Region. In the Nearctic Region the Rocky Mountain 

 Goat (Haplocerus montanus) is the sole representative 

 of the Mountain- Antelopes. 



The Goats and Sheep {Caprinx), which follow next, 

 have nearly the same sort of distribution. It should be 

 mentioned that the distinctive differences between the 

 Goats and Sheep, from a structural point of view, are 

 very difficult to define ; and that the two forms are so 

 nearly allied that it has been proposed by some naturalists 

 to unite them into one genus. The Caprinx altogether, 

 although by no means satisfactorily worked out at present, 

 may be held to embrace some twenty-six species, of which 

 nineteen are Palsearctic, two are Nearctic, five are Oriental, 

 and one species only {Capra walie of the high ranges of 

 Abyssinia) occurs within the confines of the Ethiopian 

 Region. The Caprinte are represented in the Nearctic 

 Region by two, or possibly three, species of Sheep, which 

 extend from Alaska, along the main range, nearly down 

 to Northern Mexico. 



Finally closing the long list of the family Bovidte 

 we have the oxen, or typical Bovinte, embracing about 

 twelve or thirteen species, and thinly distributed over the 



