THE TROPICAL FOREST | 105 
the forepaws. Structurally, of course, the tree-shrews 
are very different from the squirrels, so that the resem- 
blances are due to adaptation. Their much more 
limited distribution shows that they have been much 
less successful than squirrels. 
The powerful and intelligent carnivores have many 
representatives in the tropical forests, though their 
dominance makes it less necessary for them to acquire 
purely arboreal habits than for more helpless animals. 
They haunt the forest for food rather than for protec- ~ 
tion. Of the large forms the lion is not a forest animal, 
though occasionally found in forest regions. The tiger, 
in India especially, is much more frequently found in 
wooded regions than elsewhere, but this may be partly 
because it is very impatient of great heat. It is appar- 
ently a bad climber. On the other hand, the widely 
distributed leopard climbs well, being capable of run- 
ning up a straight-stemmed tree. This is even more 
true of the South American jaguar, which in swampy 
regions may be almost purely arboreal in habitat, and 
preys largely upon monkeys. It shows, however, like 
the other large cats, considerable adaptability, being 
found in savanas as well as in forests. 
The puma (Fig. 26) does not appear to haunt dense 
forests, being much more a denizen of open plains or dis- 
tricts with thick reeds and grass. The clouded leopard 
or tiger (Fig. 45) is an arboreal form found in South- 
East Asia. The smaller cats, with the exception of 
Madagascar and Australia, are universally distributed, 
and the tropical forests of all regions have their full 
share of species. 
On the other hand, the less differentiated forms known 
as civets (family Viverridae) are limited to the warmer 
parts of the Old World. The habits of the civets are 
