100 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 
absent. These peculiarities of the fauna of Madagascar apparently 
point, as previously mentioned, to its separation from the mainland 
before the latter was overrun by the larger types, and at a time 
when its chief mammals were Lemurs and Insectivores. There 
are two genera of Edentates, the Pangolins (Munis), and the Aard- 
vark (Orycteropus), the latter being peculiar. 
Although the foregoing groups of mammals are now so 
characteristic of the Ethiopian region, it cannot be too strongly 
insisted that their restriction to this region is, so to speak, merely 
a feature of the present day, and that at a late geological epoch 
nearly all the peculiar genera were represented in India, and many 
of them also in Europe. 
Oriental Region—The third or Oriental region is likewise of very 
considerable extent, and is the only one, in addition to the Ethiopian, 
which is the home of huge Ungulates, like Elephants and 
Rhinoceroses, and the large man-like Apes. A large proportion of 
this extensive area is occupied by tropical and subtropical forests 
and swamps; these being especially abundant in Burma, Southern 
China, Siam, and the southern ridges of the Himalaya, collectively 
constituting the Indo-Chinese sub-region, and also in the Indo- 
Malayan sub-region of the Malay peninsula and adjacent islands. 
In the third or Indian sub-region, comprising peninsular India, with 
the exception of the Carnatic, there are large tracts of open country, 
including some of the hottest regions in the world, parts of which 
form plains more or less covered with vegetation during the cooler 
and rainy seasons, while others are barren rocky table-lands, as in 
the Deccan, or arid deserts like those of parts of the Punjab and 
Sind. Finally, in the fourth or Cingalese sub-region, represented 
by the Carnatic and the island of Ceylon, we find vast areas of 
luxuriant forest and jungle. In the north-western desert area of 
the Indian sub-region the fauna includes a mixture of Palearctic and 
Ethiopian forms, with those characteristic of the Oriental region. 
Among the chief features of the mammalian fauna of this 
region we may notice the absence of Hippopotami and Giraffes, the 
greatly diminished number of Antelopes, as compared with those 
of Africa, and the abundance of Deer and true Pigs. The Antelopes 
comprise the two peculiar genera Boselaphus (Nilghai) and the 
typical Antilope (Black-buck), each of which is represented by only 
a single species, while the Deer belong to the so-called Rusine 
group, which is markedly different from that to which the 
Paleearctic Red Deer belongs. True Chevrotains (Tragulus) are 
peculiar to this region. The Oxen include the true Buffalo, 
differing in many respects from the African species of the same 
group, and also certain species of true Oxen, such as the Gaour and 
Banting, belonging to the Bibovine group, which is confined to this 
region. In the Perissodactyla Horses (Equus) are represented 
