ZOOLOGICAL 



23 



The most remarkable of all recently extinct species is that inappropriately 

 named the Irish Elk or Irish Deer (Cervus giganteus). This animal was 

 really a gigantic Fallow Deer, whose remains have been found in the Irish 

 Peat Bogs, and in the cave deposits and river gravels of England, Ireland 

 and the Isle of Man. The antlers in some specimens measure 11 feet from 

 tip to tip. Remains of the Reindeer are commonly found in caverns and 

 other superficial deposits in Great Britain. 



CAMELID^E (Camels and Llamas ; 4 Species). Plate 7, Map vi. 



At^ the present day this family is represented by two species of Llama 

 found in South America, and two species of Camel found in the Old World. 

 Although containing so few species, this family is extremely valuable to 

 mankind, the Llamas furnishing a beautiful wool much used in the manu- 

 facture of articles of clothing, while the Camels are mainly of service as beasts 

 of burden. The smaller of the two species of Llama, known as the Vicugna 

 (Lama vicugna), is confined to the mountains of Southern Ecuador, Peru and 

 Bolivia. The other species, known as the Guanaco or Huanaco (L. hnanacus) 

 has a much wider range, extending from the Andes of Ecuador and Peru as 

 far as the open plains of Patagonia, and even to Tierra del Fuego. From 

 the latter species two domesticated races have arisen, known as the true 

 Llama and the Alpaca. Both these forms have long been bred by man, 

 the former chiefly as a beast of burden and the latter for the sake of its 

 exceedingly long and fine wool. 



Of the two known species of Camel, only one is known at the present 

 day in a wild state. This is the Bactrian Camel (Camelus bactrianus) found 

 wild only in a restricted desert area in Central Asia, though it is domesti- 

 cated over a large area extending from the Crimea through Turkestan to 

 Pekin. The other species, known as the Arabian Camel or Dromedary 

 (C. dromedarius) is now only known in a domesticated state, but occurring 

 thus throughout Africa, and in Asia Minor and South-Eastern Asia. It is 

 supposed to have originated from some ancestral form in India, and thence 

 to have wandered through Arabia to Africa. 



No less than 76 fossil species referable to this family have been described. 

 Of these over 40 are from the Tertiary beds of North America, and form 

 three sub-families unrepresented by any existing species. To the sub-family 

 containing the Llamas and Camels are referred the remaining species, and 

 these are represented by remains in widely separated localities in both Old 

 and New Worlds. 



TRAGTJLID^: (Chevrotains; 13 Species). Plate 7, Map v. 



The Chevrotains, or Mouse Deer, as they are sometimes called, are 

 represented by two genera, the first of which (Tragulus) contains a dozen 

 species which are found in India, Ceylon, Siam, the Malay Peninsula and 

 Archipelago, and the Philippines (Balabac) ; while the second (Hyomoschus) 

 is formed for the reception of a single species known as the Water Chev- 

 rotain (H. aguaticus), confined to the west coast of Africa, and ranging 

 from Senegambia to the river Congo. The Chevrotains are pretty little 

 creatures without antlers, and intermediate in structure between Deer, 

 Camels and Pigs. 



About 30 extinct species of this family are known, of which about half 

 are from the European Tertiary beds. 



STJIDiE and DICOTYLIM (Pigs and Peccaries; 45 Species). 

 Plate 7, Map vii. 



These two families, which should perhaps be considered as one, have in 

 conjunction a very wide distribution, and possess representatives in all the 

 zoogeographical regions. The typical genus Sus, containing the true 

 Pigs, comprises 29 species, which range over a large area, from Southern and 

 Central Europe to China and Japan, and southwards to Ceylon, Java and 

 New Guinea. Two species occur in Africa, ranging as far south as Senaar 

 and the Sudan. The best known species is the Common Wild Boar (S. scrofa), 

 which occurs from Central and Southern Europe to Northern Africa and 

 Western and Central Asia. The Bush-Pigs or River-Hogs (Potamochcerus) 

 are five in number, four of which are confined to Africa, and the fifth to 

 Madagascar. The latter is remarkable as being the only Ungulate found in 

 the Malagasy sub-region. In Celebes, Buru, and the Sulu Islands occurs a 

 curious member of the Suidse, known as the Babirussa (Babirussa babirussa). 

 This animal is remarkable for its long and peculiarly curved tusks, which 

 bend upwards and backwards, and probably serve as a protection for the 

 eyes when the animal pushes its way through the dense forests which form 

 its home. The genus Phacochserus is represented by two species bearing 

 the popular name of Wart-Hogs, which are confined to Africa, and range from 

 Senegambia and Abyssinia to the Cape. 



The Peccaries (Dicotyles or Tayassus), of which five species are known, 

 are the American representatives of the Suidse, although often regarded 

 as constituting a separate family. They range from Arizona, Texas, and 

 the Red River of Arkansas southwards to the Rio Negro in Patagonia, but 

 are absent from Chili and the West Indies. 



The remains of 120 species of Pig-like animals have been described from 

 the Tertiary deposits of both Old and New Worlds. These furnish the 

 evidence upon which the union of the Pigs and Peccaries into one family can 

 be justified. The great majority of these interesting extinct forms lived in 

 Europe and the Western States of North America. 



HIPP0P0TAMLD.E (Hippopotamus; 2 Species). 

 Plate 7, Map vii. 



The bulky animals constituting this family are at the present day found 

 in most of the African lakes and rivers south of the Sahara, but are absent 

 from Madagascar. In the extreme south of their range they have become 

 local and in most localities are in danger of extinction. The common 



Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) has a wide range coinciding with 

 that of the family, but the second species (H. liberiensis), a much smaller 

 animal, is confined to the district of Liberia in the west of the continent. 



Fourteen extinct species of Hippopotamus are known, the remains of 

 which have been found in the Tertiary beds of Europe, Algeria, Madagascar, 

 and South-eastern Asia. The common Hippopotamus was formerly an in- 

 habitant of Britain, as evidenced by fossil remains found as far north as 

 Yorkshire. 



ORDER CETACEA (135 Species). 



The members of this Order are all aquatic animals, and three out of 

 the four families are purely marine, being found in the seas of practically 

 the whole world. The fourth family, the Platanistidse, is confined to the 

 waters of the Indus, Ganges and Bramaputra in the Old World, and the 

 Amazon, La Plata and some other South American rivers in the New. 

 Cetaceans are animals of large size, and many of them are of economic im- 

 portance. Some species perform periodical migrations, passing the summer 

 in northern and arctic seas and retreating south on the approach of winter. 

 Others seldom leave the neighbourhood of the ice. 



DELPHINID^I (Dolphins, Porpoises, &c. ; 83 Species). 

 Plate 8, Maps i., ii. andiii. 



The Delphinidee are found in the seas of practically the whole world, 

 and some of the species ascend the rivers also to a longer or shorter distance. 

 The Narwhal (Monodon monoceros) is an arctic species remarkable for the 

 curious spirally-twisted tusk which sometimes exceeds half the length of the 

 body. This interesting animal is circumpolar, seldom occurring south of 

 65° N. latitude. It has occurred three times in British seas, while its 

 remains have been found in the Forest bed of S.E. England. The White 

 Whale or Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) is also an arctic species. It 

 occurs as far south as Cape Cod in Massachusetts, and has on several 

 occasions been seen or captured off the British coasts. The Common 

 Porpoise (Phocsena communis) is a widely-distributed and well-known species 

 occurring in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans, the European 

 coasts, and the North Sea. It is rare in the Mediterranean, but around the 

 British Isles is exceedingly common. The Killer or Grampus (Orca gladiator) 

 is the most formidable member of the family, preying upon other Cetaceans, 

 Seals and Fishes. It is of cosmopolitan distribution and an occasional 

 visitor to British seas. Besides the above, the Pilot- Whale or Black-Fish 

 (Globicephalus melas), Risso's Grampus (Grampus griseus), two species of 

 Short-beaked Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus), the Common Dolphin (Delphinus 

 delphis) and the Bottle-nosed Dolphin (Tursiops tursio) are also members of 

 the British fauna. 



The remains of about 20 extinct species belonging to this family have 

 been described, 16 of which are from the Tertiary deposits of Europe, three 

 from those of North America, and one from the Pleistocene of New Zealand. 



PLATANISTID.E (Freshwater Dolphins; 3 Species). 

 Plate 8, Map iii. 



At the present day this family is only represented by the Gangetic 

 Dolphin (Platanista gangetica) inhabiting the Indus, Ganges, Bramaputra 

 and other Indian rivers ; the Amazonian Dolphin (Inia geoffroyensis), found 

 only in the upper waters of the Amazon and its tributaries, the Orinoco, 

 and certain rivers of Bolivia ; and the La Plata Dolphin (Stenodelphis blain- 

 villei) confined to the estuary of the Rio de la Plata and the rivers 

 flowing therein. In past ages, however, the family was much more ex- 

 tensive, for the remains of at least 70 species have been found in the 

 Tertiary deposits of Europe, the United States, the Argentine Republic, and 

 Patagonia. 



PHYSETERID.E: (Sperm Whales, &c. ; 18 Species). 

 Plate 8, Map v. 



The Sperm Whales and their allies are cosmopolitan in their distribu- 

 tion, and hence offer few points of interest to the student of zoological 

 geography. The best-known species, the Sperm Whale (Physeter macro- 

 cephalus), occurs in all the warmer oceans, ranging about 60° N. and S. 

 of the Equator. It is a gregarious animal, found in "schools" of 15 

 individuals and upwards. From an economic point of view it is of import- 

 ance as yielding sperm-oil, spermaceti and ambergris. In British and 

 northern seas males occur only as stragglers. The Common Bottle-nosed Whale 

 (Hyperoodon rostratus) is confined to the North Atlantic, ranging northwards 

 as far as Spitzbergen and Baffin Bay during the summer season, and occur- 

 ring off the British coasts. A second species, however, allied to this, is found 

 in southern seas. The Beaked Whales (Mesoplodon) are represented by 

 seven species, occurring in most seas, one of which, known as Sowerby's Whale 

 (M. bidens), was originally described from a specimen captured off the coast of 

 Elgin. It is still a somewhat rare species, although widely distributed in 

 the North Atlantic. The other species of this genus occur in southern seas, 

 ranging as far south as New Zealand and the Falkland Islands. 



The remains of 78 extinct species have been referred to this family, the 

 majority of which are from the Miocene and Pliocene of Europe. 



BAL^NID^ (Whalebone Whales; 31 Species). 

 Plate 8, Map iv. 



The Whales belonging to this family are easily distinguished from all 

 other Cetaceans by the total absence of teeth, and by the possession of a series 

 of flattened horny plates attached to the palate. These plates are the baleen 

 or " whalebone " of commerce, and hence these animals are of great importance 

 from an economic point of view. Like other families of Cetaceans the 

 Whalebone Whales are represented in all seas, and a number of species 



