226 GEOGRAPHICAL ZOOLOGY. [part iv. 



In the caves of Brazil remains of two animals said to be ante- 

 lopes, have been discovered. They are classed by Gervais in the 

 genera Antilope and Leptothcrium, bnt the presence of true ante- 

 lopes in S. America at this period is so improbable, that there is 

 probably some error of identification. 



The extinct family Sivatheridse, containing the extraordinary 

 and gigantic four-horned Sivathcrium and Bramatherium, of the 

 Siwalik deposits, are most nearly allied to the antelopes. 



From the preceding facts we may conclude, that the great 

 existing development of the Bovidse is comparatively recent. 

 The type may have originated early in the Miocene period, the 

 oxen being at first most tropical, while the antelopes inhabited 

 the desert zone a little further north. The sheep and goats seem 

 to be the most recent development of the bovine type, which 

 was probably long confined to the Eastern Hemisphere. 



General Remarks on the Distribution of the Ungulata. 



With the exception of the Australian region, from which this 

 order of mammalia is almost entirely wanting, the Ungulata are 

 almost universally distributed over the continental parts of all the 

 other regions. Of the ten families, 7 are Ethiopian, 6 Oriental, 5 

 Palaearctic, 4 Neotropical, and 3 Nearctic. The Ethiopian region 

 owes its superiority to the exclusive possession of the hippo- 

 potamus and giraffe, both of which inhabited the Palaearctic and 

 Oriental regions in Miocene times. The excessive poverty of the 

 Nearctic region in this order is remarkable ; the swine being 

 represented only by Dicotyles in its extreme southern portion, 

 while the Bovidse are restricted to four isolated species. Deer 

 alone are fairly well represented. But, during the Eocene and 

 Miocene periods, North America was wonderfully rich in varied 

 forms of Ungulates, of which there were at least 8 or 9 families ; 

 while we have reason to believe that during the same periods the 

 Ethiopian region was excessively poor, and that it probably re- 

 ceived the ancestors of all its existing families from Europe or 

 Western Asia in later Miocene or Pliocene times. Many types that 

 once abounded in both Europe and North America are now pre- 

 served only in South America and Central or Tropical Asia, — as 



