VII.] CARNIVORA. 235 



mungooses (Herpestes] are common to the Ethiopian and Oriental 

 regions ; but the whole group attains a far greater development 

 within the former area than elsewhere. Although the common 

 genet is an inhabitant of the southern portion of the eastern 

 Holarctic region, all the other species of Genetta are Ethiopian. 

 The West African linsang (Poland] is the Ethiopian representative 

 of the beautiful linsangs (Linsangd) of the eastern portion of the 

 Oriental region ; the distribution of this group being a well-marked 

 instance of the close alliance of the fauna of the Malayan 

 countries to that of West Africa, to which reference will again be 

 made. The Oriental palm-civets (Paradoxurus) are represented 

 by the nearly-allied Ethiopian genus Nandinia, of which one 

 species is West African, while the other comes from Nyasaland. 

 The small-toothed mungoose (Helogale] is common to West and 

 East Africa ; and the allied genus Bdeogale has representatives 

 on both sides of the continent. Two other peculiar Ethiopian 

 genera, Cynictis and Rhynchogale, have each but a single species : the 

 former being South African and the latter East African. The 

 cusimanses (Crossarchus), although mainly characteristic of the 

 forest tract, have one representative in Abyssinia. Lastly, the 

 meerkat, the sole representative of the genus Suricata, is an 

 exclusively South African form. A peculiar family (Proteleidce) is 

 constituted by the aard-wolf (Proteles], ranging from the Cape to 

 Somaliland, and a near ally of the hyaenas, from which it is 

 distinguished by the extremely feeble development of the denti- 

 tion. Both the spotted hyaena (Hyczna crocuta) and the brown 

 hyaena (H. fused) are now confined to Ethiopia, but the former 

 ranged over a large portion of Europe as well as southern India 

 during the Plistocene epoch ; and as all the three living species 

 are included in the same genus, there is no generic type in this 

 family restricted to the Ethiopian region. 



In the Canidcz wolves are absent, but the jackals are repre- 

 sented by species allied to Cam's aureus, which occurs in North 

 Africa; wild dogs (sub-genus Cyon) are, however, wanting. 

 Although the long-eared foxes or fennecs, such as Cants chama, 

 are common in Ethiopia, they are by no means characteristic, 

 since they range into North Africa, Syria, Persia, and Afghanistan ; 

 being, in fact, like the gazelles, desert-haunting forms. There are, 



