CHAPTER XVII. 



THE DISTKIBUTION OF THE FAMILIES AND GENERA OF MAMMALIA. 



Order I.— PRIMATES. 

 Family 1.— SIMIID^. (4 Genera, 12 Species). 



General Distribution. 



Neotropical 

 Sub-regions. 



Nearctic 

 Sub-regions. 



Pal^arctic 

 Sub- REGIONS. 



Ethiopian 

 Sub-regions. 



Oriental 

 Sub-regions. 



3.4 



Australian 

 Sub-regions. 



The Simiidfe, or Anthropoid Apes, comprehend those forms of 

 the monkey-tribe which, in general organization, approach nearest 

 to man. They inhabit the tropics of the Old World, and are 

 most abundant near the equator ; but they are limited to certain 

 districts, being quite unknown in eastern and southern Africa, 

 and the whole peninsula of Hindostan. 



The genus Troglodytes (or Mimetes, as it is sometimes named) 

 comprehends the chimpanzee and gorilla. It is confined to the 

 West African sub-region, being found on the coast about 12° 

 North and South of the equator, from the Gambia to Benguela, and 

 as far inland as the great equatorial forests extend. There are 

 perhaps other species of chimpanzee ; since Livingstone met with 

 what he supposed to be a new species in the forest region west 

 of Lake Tanganyika, while Dr. Schweinfurth found one in the 

 country beyond the western watershed of the Nile. The gorilla 

 is confined within narrower limits on and near the equator. 



