INTRODUCTION 5 



or overlooked or disregarded on the other hand. The common 

 literary sins of failing to acknowledge sources of information, of 

 giving incomplete references, and of taking liberties with quotations, 

 have been scrupulously avoided as far as has lain within my power. 

 These matters have called for the closest possible attention in a 

 work that is so largely a compilation as the present one. 



Perhaps no two mammalogists would agree completely on just 

 what species or subspecies come properly within the scope of this 

 report. In the first place, that scope is not completely explained in 

 the rather brief title chosen. With the exception of a few partially 

 aquatic species, such as the hippopotamuses, only land mammals are 

 included. The various marine and fresh-water species are dealt with 

 in Dr. Allen's volume (1942). A somewhat more exact but unduly 

 awkward title might have been Land Mammals of the Old World 

 that are Extinct, or Vanishing, or in Need of Special Protection. 

 Some of the forms included are no doubt actually increasing under 

 protection at the present moment but nevertheless deserve and 

 require the fullest possible care in order that they may continue to 

 survive. 



It has been deemed advisable to include all African mammals 

 accorded protection in Schedules A and B of the London Convention 

 of 1933, even if subsequent investigation has shown that certain 

 forms are in less urgent need of close protection than was at first 

 supposed. On the o^her hand, the simple limitations of time and 

 funds have excluded a certain number of rare and more or less en- 

 dangered species whose status is probably more unsatisfactory than 

 that of a good many included species. 



Finally, there are doubtless a considerable number of other mam- 

 mals (especially small, inconspicuous, or secretive species) that have 

 progressed far toward the vanishing point, or that have actually 

 become extinct, without their status having become known to zoolo- 

 gists. There is no royal road to the discovery of such a state of 

 affairs. Time and again extinction has taken place years in advance 

 of the fact coming to scientific attention. Thus, at the very best, 

 the present report could embody no more than a certain portion of 

 the current (and decidedly incomplete) knowledge on the subject. 



A few words may be said here on the difficult subject of the 

 arrangement or sequence of the systematic groups families, genera, 

 species, and subspecies. The present arrangement of families is ac- 

 cording to Simpson (1931). Beyond this point there is apparently 

 no single, comprehensive, up-to-date guide to be followed. Many 

 recent authors of faunal lists or catalogues do not even undertake 

 an explanation of the sequence they adopt. For the large group of 

 ungulate mammals Lydekker's well-known catalogue (1913-1916) 

 furnishes a convenient guide in the arrangement of genera, species. 



