VII.] INSECTIVORA. 233 



case. It is further noticeable that two of the families belong to 

 the primitive group characterised by their tritubercular upper molar 

 teeth, and were accordingly in all probability very early immigrants 

 into the country. The first family almost peculiar to the region is 

 that of the jumping-shrews (Macroscelididce), the members of which 

 are easily recognised by their elongated hind limbs, long snout, 

 and leaping habits. While the typical genus Macroscelides has 

 representatives throughout the region and also extends into 

 Holarctic Africa, the four species of Rhynchocyon, in which the 

 legs are shorter and the snout longer, are restricted to East Africa. 

 To the latter is closely allied the European Oligocene genus 

 Pseudorhynchocyon, and it would thus seem that the family, 

 although unrepresented in Madagascar, arrived at a relatively 

 early date in Ethiopia. On the other hand, since the hedgehogs 

 are represented only by the widely-spread typical genus Erinaceus, 

 together with a West African species which has been separated as 



FIG. 53. WEST AFRICAN POTAMOGALE (Potamogale velox]. 



Proechinus, it is probable that they did not make their appearance 

 on the scene till a later epoch. The Soricidce, or shrews, are 

 represented in Ethiopia only by three species belonging to the 

 peculiar genus Myosorex, differing from all the other genera in 



