OF MAMMALIA. 603 
a few families or at least the greater part of an order, instead of nearly 
two whole sub-classes. 
We may here allude to the hypothetical continent of LEMuRIA. 
Apart from the distribution of the fox-bats and a peculiar civet, the 
evidence for the former existence of this continent connecting Mada- 
gascar with India and Further India is based largely upon the resem- 
blances in amphibians, land-tortoises, birds and molluscs. 
The presence of lemurs in Malay has led to the supposition that one 
feature of this continent was an abundance of this type, hence the name. 
Geographical evidence for the same is found in the constitution of the 
Seychelles, which, unlike oceanic islands, are formed of granitic rocks 
of the primary period. 
This sunken continent, if it existed at all, would appear to have 
scarcely survived into the Tertiary period, so that it can hardly be said 
to come into Eutherian mammalian times, and we have seen that the 
lemurs can be accounted for in another less hypothetical way. 
2. Eraiopian Recion. —The Ethiopian region com- 
prises the continent of Africa south of the Tropic of Cancer. 
The area is much more isolated zoologically than geogra- 
phically, for the Sahara Desert extends across its northern 
part, and has probably since the Cretaceous epoch formed 
an effectual barrier to mammalian migrations, which have 
hence been confined to the Nile basin on the east side. 
This region has four sub-divisions differing in physical 
characters, the pasture lands south of the Sahara, the Sahara 
desert itself with sparse fauna, the equatorial forests, and the 
area south of these. 
It has a wonderfully rich mammalian fauna, though it is 
for the most part being rapidly exterminated. It has of 
course no representative of the two lowest sub-classes, but 
possesses in the aard-varks and pangolins two families of 
the very low order Zdentata. Rodents are plentiful, 
including squirrels, Anomalurus (a peculiar flying squirrel), 
a large number of the ubiquitous J/uride, jerboas, cape 
jumping hares, whilst the hystricomorphous types are re- 
presented by the octodonts, which we have already met 
with in Neogcea. But the most remarkable feature is the 
abundance of Ungulata; elephants and dasses, hippopo- 
tamuses, water chevrotains, bush-pigs and wart-hogs, giraffes, 
rhinoceroses, zebras and quaggas, and lastly antelopes of 
every description. Every family of this great order is 
represented except the Camelide and Tapiride. Of the 
abundant Carnivora we may note the lion and leopard, 
