THE TROPICAL FOREST 105 



the forepaws. Structurally, of course, the tree-shrews 

 are very different from the squirrels, so that the resem- 

 blances are due to adaptation. Their much more 

 limited distribution shows that they have been much 

 less successful than squirrels. 



The powerful and intelligent carnivores have many 

 representatives in the tropical forests, though their 

 dominance makes it less necessary for them to acquire 

 purely arboreal habits than for more helpless animals. 

 They haunt the forest for food rather than for protec- 

 tion. Of the large forms the lion is not a forest animal, 

 though occasionally found in forest regions. The tiger, 

 in India especially, is much more frequently found in 

 wooded regions than elsewhere, but this may be partly 

 because it is very impatient of great heat. It is appar- 

 ently a bad climber. On the other hand, the widely 

 distributed leopard climbs well, being capable of run- 

 ning up a straight-stemmed tree. This is even more 

 true of the South American jaguar, which in swampy 

 regions may be almost purely arboreal in habitat, and 

 preys largely upon monkeys. It shows, however, like 

 the other large cats, considerable adaptabilitj', being 

 found in savanas as well as in forests. 



The puma (Fig. 26) does not appear to haunt dense 

 forests, being much more a denizen of open plains or dis- 

 tricts with thick reeds and grass. The clouded leopard 

 or tiger (Fig. 45) is an arboreal form found ia South- 

 East Asia. The smaller cats, with the exception of 

 Madagascar and Australia, are universally distributed, 

 and the tropical forests of aU regions have their fuU 

 share of species. 



On the other hand, the less differentiated forms known 

 as civets (family Viverridae) are limited to the warmer 

 parts of the Old World. The habits of the civets are 



