178 GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF ZOOLOGY. 



north. Hence many unite the palaearctic and nearctic provinces 

 into a ' holarctic ' province. 



(3) The nearctic region has peculiar to it three mammalian 

 families, the prong-horned antelope, the opossums, and the 

 Haplodontae ; of the group of Amphibia, the Sirenidae and Amphi- 

 umidae. The Nearctic .is to be distinguished from the nearest 

 related palaearctic region through the crowding in of neotropical 

 forms like the raccoon, opossum, humming-birds, etc. 



(4) The palaearctic region covers the greatest area and conse- 

 quently abuts upon many other provinces. Hence there exist on 

 the one side important differences between the various local 

 faunas, which are conditioned by climate and great distances, but 

 on the other it explains the fact that the palaearctic region has no 

 peculiar families. The families which here have reached a great 

 development are the deer, cattle, sheep, and camels; especially 

 conspicuous genera are the chamois, squirrel, badger, and marmot. 



(5) The Ethiopian region has many animals found only there; 

 among these the hippopotamus and giraffe, the aardvark, and, if 

 we include Madagascar, the lemurs are most characteristic. To 

 these are added a rich development of antelopes and zebras and 

 the gorilla and chimpanzee. Equally noteworthy is the entire 

 absence of striking families and genera, such as the bears, moles, 

 deer, goats, tapirs, sheep, the true cattle and swine, provided they 

 have not been domesticated and introduced. 



Within the region the island of Madagascar occupies a remark- 

 able position. This island is the land of lemurs and Insectivora; 

 no land is so rich in lemurs, as the majority of the genera live 

 exclusively in Madagascar. On the other hand the large beasts 

 of prey, the cats, hyenas, dogs, and the bears (which, however, do 

 occur in Africa), all the true apes, antelopes, elephants, and the 

 various species of rhinoceros are absent. Consequently, since 

 Madagascar is distinguished quite conspicuously from Africa, many 

 zoologists separate the island from the Ethiopian region; many 

 even give it the rank of an independent province. 



(6) The oriental region contains, next to Madagascar, the most 

 lemurs; among which the Tarsidae and Galeopithecidae (the latter 

 often considered an insectivore) are exclusively oriental. Remark- 

 able inhabitants of the province are the gibbons and orang-utans, 

 the musk-deer, numerous families and genera of birds. 



Arctic and Antarctic Provinces. Of late the view has gained 

 ground that, besides these six, two other, circumpolar, provinces 

 must be distinguished, the arctic and the antarctic. Both have a 



