PROBLEMS OF DISTRIBUTION AND THEIR SOLUTION. 145 



namely, the Nearctic this first region possesses a much greater 

 variety of quadrupeds and birds. A very fair representation of all 

 the higher animals is found in the Palaearctic province. With the 

 exception of the monkey of Gibraltar an importation from Northern 

 Africa and the Japanese ape, no apes occur in this region. The 

 bats are not markedly peculiar, but the whole of the mole family, 

 save one American and two Oriental species, is included within its 

 limits. Of carnivora it has a fair share, although the larger beasts of 

 prey are well-nigh absent. There are numerous lynxes ; wolves, 

 foxes, and bears are plentiful but not peculiar ; the badgers occur 

 typically here, whilst Japan has a peculiar dog (Nyctereutes) and a 

 special otter (Lutronectes). The Ungulates, or hoofed animals, include 

 the camels, which are typical tenants of the Palsearctic Region ; 

 there are six genera of deer peculiar to the region, along with seven 

 peculiar genera of the ox family (chiefly antelopes), such as .the 

 chamois and saiga. This region may be described as the head- 

 quarters of the sheep and goats, since but two species (one American 

 and one Indian) exist without its bounds. The Rodentia, or 

 "gnawers," are well represented likewise. Twenty-seven rodents 

 occur nowhere else, and those genera occurring in other regions 

 such as the voles, pikas, and dormice still possess representatives 

 in the Palaearctic territory. The birds of this region, like the quad- 

 rupeds, present us with many well-known genera and species. The 

 true pheasants are wholly limited to this region, if we except one 

 species found in Formosa ; the corncrake, the great bustard, and the 

 sand-grouse, are specially Palaearctic. Of smaller birds this region 

 has likewise its typical representatives. The grasshopper-warblers 

 (Locustella\ the true warblers (including the robins), the bearded 

 titmouse, the wrynecks, the magpies, choughs, and nutcrackers are 

 characteristic of this region. The reptiles and amphibians are rela- 

 tively few. There are, however, at least two genera of snakes, seven 

 genera of lizards, eight frogs and toads, and eight newts and sala- 

 manders which the region claims as its own. The fresh-water fishes 

 peculiar to this territory, it may be added, number about twenty 

 genera. The sub-regions number four. Of these, Central and 

 Northern Europe, with their peculiar Desman-rat and chamois, form 

 one. The Mediterranean borders constitute another, and contain as 

 peculiar animals the fallow-deer, the elephant shrews, the hyaena, the 

 porcupine, and the coney. The Siberian sub-region forms a third, 

 and is the special home of the yak, or hairy bison of Thibet, the 

 Thibetan antelopes, and a peculiar mole ; whilst in the fourth sub- 

 region, formed by Japan and Northern China, we find special forms 

 of monkeys, moles, and other quadrupeds, the most notable being a 

 carnivorous animal, the sEluropus. 



Turning next to the Ethiopian region, we discover this latter 



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