ZOOGEOGRAPHICAL REGIONS 221 
Rodents are represented by five peculiar genera belong- 
ing to the mouse section ; carnivores by some seven 
members of the civet family, of which the largest is 
the cat-like animal called Cryptoprocta. All the genera 
of carnivora are peculiar to the island. The absence of 
the true cats of the genus Felis, elsewhere so widely 
distributed, is a remarkable feature. 
The above include all the non-flying mammals of 
~ Madagascar, and it will be noted that they form 
a striking contrast with those of Africa. The charac- 
teristic African birds, e.g. the plantain-eaters and 
colies, are similarly absent, while the reptiles are very 
remarkable in that some show affinity with those of 
South America rather than with those of Africa. The 
chameleons present some interesting features. These 
lizards occur in Africa and in India, but are more 
abundant in the island of Madagascar than anywhere 
else, thus showing a curious parallelism with the lemurs. 
Turning now to the Notogaeic Realm we may begin 
with the NEOTROPICAL REGION, which is both highly 
peculiar and very rich in species. Here are no anthro- 
poid apes, no dog-faced (Catarrhine) monkeys, and no 
lemurs, but on the other hand a peculiar family of 
broad-nosed (Platyrrhine) monkeys, and another of 
small, also broad-nosed, furry forms called marmosets, 
both families differing in a number of respects from all 
the Old World forms. The bats-are very peculiar. Here 
only (with a slight extension into North America) do 
we find the vampire bats, while the fruit-bats of the 
Old World are completely absent, as well as another 
family called the horse-shoe bats (Rhinolophidae). 
Insectivores are practically absent, though in the West 
Indian Islands there occur two shrews of the genus 
Solenodon, believed to be related to the Centetidae of 
