ORIENTAL REGION 101 



only by a single species in the desert area of the Indian sub-region, 

 while the two species of Rhinoceros differ from those of Africa 

 in being furnished with canines and incisors. The Malayan 

 Tapir is the only Old World species of its genus. The Indian 

 Elephant differs, moreover, so markedly from its African ally that 

 some writers regard the two as types of distinct genera. The 

 Carnivora include the Lion, Leopard, Jackal, and Hunting-Leopard, 

 which are common to Africa ; but the Tiger is very characteristic 

 of this region, although extending northwards into the Palsearctic. 

 Civets are abundant, comprising some peculiar genera, of which it 

 will suffice to mention the well known Paradoxurus. Wolves closely 

 allied to the Palaearctic species occur in Northern India, and there 

 are also Foxes related to the typical species. The Dog-like animals 

 which hunt in packs, and are separated by some writers from Canis 

 under the name of Cyon, occur in the present and the Palsearctic 

 region. The striped Hyaena is the Indian representative of its genus. 

 Ratels are common to this and the Ethiopian region, and constitute 

 the genus Mellivora. The most striking feature in the Carnivorous 

 fauna of this region, as distinguished from the Ethiopian, is, however, 

 the presence of Bears, some of which belong to the typical genus 

 Ursus, while one species is usually generically separated under the 

 name of Melursus. Among the Rodents we may especially notice 

 the abundance of the Muridce and Sciuridce. In the former family 

 we have numbers of true Mice (Mus), and also the peculiar genus 

 Nesocia (Bandicoot-Rat), while in the latter both the true Squirrels 

 (Sciurus) and the Flying-Squirrels (Pteromys) attain great develop- 

 ment. The genus (Pteromys) is, indeed, mainly characteristic of this 

 region, although in Kashmir and Japan it enters the Palaearctic. 

 The Bats are very numerous, being represented by all the families, 

 with the exception of the Phyllostomatidce, or Vampyres, of South 

 America. Among the Insectivora the genera Tupaia and Galeo- 

 pithecus (Flying Lemur) are peculiar to this region, although not 

 found in India. Finally, in the Primates we have the genera 

 Macacus and Semnopithecus very abundantly represented, although 

 both also enter the Palaearctic region ; but the Anthropoid types 

 are confined to the south-eastern half of the region, and include the 

 Orangs (Simia) of Borneo, and the smaller long-armed Gibbons 

 (Hylobates), which are abundant in the Malay peninsula, both 

 genera not being found beyond this region. The Lemurs are much 

 less abundant than in the Ethiopian region, but they include the 

 peculiar Tarsier of Sumatra, Borneo, and Celebes (Austro-Malayan 

 region), which differs so markedly in dentition and structure of 

 the feet from all other forms that it has been made the type of 

 a separate family. The Edentates, so poorly represented in the 

 Old World, include only Pangolins (Manis), which, as we have 

 already seen, also occur in the Ethiopian region. 



