124 TROPICAL SAVANAS 
are distinguished from the typical steppe region already 
described in the absence of a severe winter. 
Proceeding now to consider the animals of the various 
savana regions in systematic order, we may note that 
as a general rule the primates do not occur in such 
regions, being, as we have seen, mostly fitted by nature 
for life in the tropical forest. To this rule, however, 
the baboons form an exception, for, as we have already 
seen, they are quadrupeds, living in open rocky country. 
The Arabian baboon (Papio hamadryas) occurs abun- 
dantly in the Sudan, where it feeds upon fruits, shoots, 
buds, and seeds, and finds the necessary shelter in 
rocky ground. In Angola another species (P. anubis) 
inhabits very dry country, and feeds largely upon that 
strange coniferous plant known as Welwitschia. 
Among the insectivores we may note especially the 
jumping shrews, which are confined to Africa, and 
show a curiously close resemblance to the jerboas among 
rodents. The jumping or elephant shrews have greatly 
elongated hind-legs, and move in a series of leaps. They 
have also curiously elongated snouts, which they use 
in routing about for the insects on which they feed. 
The type genus is Macroscelides, and the animals are 
widely distributed in Africa, being mainly but not 
exclusively tropical. The elongation of the hind-limbs 
is interesting, for it is frequent in steppe and savana 
animals, and has several obvious advantages which have 
been already discussed (see p. 64). 
Of the carnivores, the large cat-like forms, as we 
have already had occasion to remark, show no very 
special adaptation to one habitat. The uniform colour- 
ing of the lion, however, suggests that it was once 
a desert animal. In Africa it is abundant in the Kala- 
hari desert, but also extends into savana and steppe 
