2/2 THE ORIENTAL REGION. [CHAP. 



we come to the Soricidce or shrews. Here the typical shrews 

 (Sorex) are wanting, while the section of the family to which that 

 genus belongs (characterised by the reddish-brown tips to the 

 teeth) is represented only by the genus Soriculus, ranging from the 

 southern slopes of the Himalaya to China. Of the widely-spread 

 musk-shrews (Croddura) it is unnecessary to speak; but it may 

 be mentioned that of the two almost tailless and scaly-footed 

 species forming the genus Annrosorex one is from Assam and the 

 other from eastern Tibet and Pekin. Chimarrogale includes two 

 aquatic shrews, one of which is found in the eastern Himalaya, 

 the hills north of Burma, and M 4 Kina Balu in Borneo, while 

 the second is Japanese. 



Among the Carnivora the region is especially rich in Felidce, 

 containing more species than any other part of the world. The 

 tiger (Felis tigris) is usually regarded as one of the most character- 

 istic mammals of India, but as its range extends northwards to 

 Siberia, while its fossilised remains have been found within the 

 Arctic circle, and it is unknown in Ceylon, there is a great proba- 

 bility that this feline is a comparatively recent immigrant into 

 India from the north-east. The range of the lion (F. leo) in this 

 region is limited to India, not extending to the eastward of the 

 Bay of Bengal, and as this animal was widely distributed during 

 the Plistocene in Europe, while it ranges all over Africa, it may 

 be regarded as essentially a western type, or exactly the opposite 

 of the tiger. Possibly certain remains from the Indian Plistocene 

 which have been assigned to the latter animal may really belong to 

 the former. As noticed on p. 234, there are other species of 

 Felis, as well as the hunting-leopard (CynteJurus), which are com- 

 mon to India and Africa, some of these occurring in the European 

 Plistocene, while only the jungle-cat (F. chaus) is found to the 

 eastward of the Bay of Bengal, and there not further east than 

 Burma. On the other hand, there are certain species, like the 

 clouded leopard (F. nebulosa) and the marbled cat (F. marmorata), 

 which are essentially eastern forms, their range including the 

 Malayan sub-region and India, but not Ceylon. The rusty- 

 spotted cat (F. rubiginosa) and the Indian desert-cat (F. ornatd] 

 are species whose range is limited in one case to India and 

 Ceylon, and in the other to India alone. 



