INTRODUCTION 



ORIGIN, PLAN, METHODS 



THE present work had its origin in a strongly felt need for defi- 

 nite information on the mammals that have become extinct 

 during the Christian Era, on those that are now threatened with the 

 same fate, on the factors contributing to the progressive depletion of 

 the world's mammalian faunas, and on the measures that have been 

 hitherto or may be hereafter undertaken for their preservation. 

 It consists to a large extent of an inventory of vanishing resources, 

 as an essential step in their conservation. 



The plan and the inception of this investigation are due to the 

 keen interest and foresight of the late Dr. John C. Phillips, founder 

 and first chairman of the American Committee for International 

 Wild Life Protection. The work has been carried out under the 

 auspices of that organization and has been supported in part by 

 a grant from the Penrose Fund of the American Philosophical 

 Society. The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia was 

 chosen as the headquarters of the investigation, largely on account 

 of the very exceptional resources of its library in the literature of 

 natural history. 



As originally projected, the investigation was to have covered the 

 entire world and the results were to be published in a single volume. 

 Owing to limitations of time, space, and available funds, as well 

 as the unforeseen magnitude of the task, the present volume is 

 restricted to the mammals of the Old World. The major part of 

 my work was concluded early in 1939; in only a few instances, 

 therefore, has it been possible to take into account the subsequently 

 published literature. Another volume, prepared in large part by 

 Dr. Glover M. Allen, late curator of mammals at the Museum of 

 Comparative Zoology, and published in December, 1942, deals with 

 the mammals of the New World and with the marine forms. 



It was also hoped to include in the Introduction a general sur- 

 vey of conservation conditions so far as they affect mammals 

 in the various countries of the world. Although it has not been 

 possible to carry out this feature, fortunately the need for it has 



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