ZOOLOGICAL 



15 



S0RICID.2: (Shrews; 229 Species). Plate 4, Map iii. 



As our figures show, these little mouse-like animals constitute by far 

 the largest family of Insectivores. They are equally remarkable for their 

 extremely wide distribution, being characteristic of the temperate and 

 tropical regions of Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. They are 

 absent, however, from Australia, New Zealand, Polynesia and that part 

 of South America lying south of the Equator. The typical Shrews (Sorex) 

 are found in Europe (with two species in Britain), Asia north of the 

 Himalayas and North America ; while the Earless or Short-tailed Shrews 

 (Blarina) are entirely confined to the New World. The Water-Shrew 

 (Crossopus fodiens), absent from Ireland, is found in Britain, in many 

 parts of Europe, and ranges eastwards into Asia as far as the Altai 

 Mts. Only three or four species of this genus are known, which are 

 pretty little animals of aquatic habits forming burrows in the banks of 

 clear streams, rivers or lakes. The Musk-Shrews (Crocidura), of which 

 over 120 species are known, range over Southern and Central Europe, 

 Africa and Asia. As their name implies, these animals are remarkable 

 for the possession of a powerful musky odour which arises from glands 

 situated at the sides of the body close behind the fore-limbs. 



Nearly all the Shrews are nocturnal land-animals of varied haunts, but 

 a few are aquatic. Several fossil species are known from the European 

 and North American Tertiaries. 



GALEOPITHECID.S! (Flying Lemurs; 8 Species). 

 Plate 4, Map ii. 



The few known species of Flying Lemurs are entirely restricted to the 

 Oriental region, ranging from Tenasserim and Siam to Java, Borneo, and 

 the Southern Philippines. Although placed among the Insectivores these 

 curious creatures are sharply marked off from the other members of the 

 Order by their leaf-eating habits and method of locomotion. Their so-called 

 flight is only a sort of extended leap or glide through the air, this per- 

 formance being aided by the curious membrane stretched between the 

 limbs and tail and forming a parachute. Their appellation "flying 

 lemur " is really a double misnomer, for they do not fly and they are not 

 lemurs. 



P0TAM0GALIDJE (Potamogale and Geogale; 3 Species). 

 Plate 4, Map iii. 



This small family includes two species belonging to the typical genus 

 Potamogale — singular creatures, the largest rather larger than our common 

 rat — confined to West Africa, and a small mouse-like animal from 

 Madagascar placed in a separate genus (Geogale). The continental species 

 are aquatic in their habits, feeding upon fish, and are partial to clear 

 streams, in which they swim with astonishing swiftness ; while the mode 

 of life of the insular representative appears to be little known. 



ERINACEID-Sl (Hedgehogs; 35 Species). Plate 4, Map iv. 



In the Erinaceidse are included 31 species of true Hedgehogs (Erinaceus), 

 which are widely distributed in Europe, Africa and Asia, and three some- 

 what ratlike and spineless species, which replace them in Burma and the 

 Indo-Malayan region, and constitute the genus Gymnura. The European 

 Hedgehog is a familiar animal with very varied diet. Its nocturnal habits 

 and prolonged winter sleep are well-known. About a dozen species have 

 been met with in the fossil state, one of which (Anomodon) is from the 

 Pleistocene of North America, and if rightly placed in this family would 

 indicate a former extension of these animals into the New World. 



Since the map illustrating this family was printed, a new genus and 

 species (Podogymnura truei) has been described from Mindanao, one of 

 the Philippine Islands. 



MACR0SCELID.S: (Elephant-Shrews; 30 Species). 

 Plate 4, Map iv. 



The Elephant-Shrews, or Jumping-Shrews, as they are sometimes called, 

 are exclusively African, representing in that continent the Tree-Shrews 

 of the next family. With the exception of a single species found in 

 Algeria and Tunis, these animals range from the Cape to Angola and 

 Abyssinia. They differ from the Tree-Shrews in being strictly terrestrial 

 animals, progressing over the ground by a series of leaps. They are 

 nocturnal in their habits and appear to be somewhat rare. A single fossil 

 species has been met with, represented by remains in the Eocene of 

 Southern France. 



TUPAIIDjE (Tupaias or Tree-Shrews ; 34 Species). 

 Plate 4, Map iv. 



The members of this family are entirely confined to the Oriental region 

 and somewhat resemble squirrels in appearance. They range from India 

 through Burma, Indo-China and the Malay Peninsula to Borneo, Sumatra, 

 Java and the Philippines, most of the species being found in the Malay 

 Archipelago, where they are often confined to a single island. A new 

 species from Hainan has been recently described, but too late for insertion 

 in the map. As the popular name implies, they are arboreal creatures, 

 and their food consists of fruit and insects. The few fossil species known 

 are from the Miocene of France and Germany. 



ORDER CARNIVORA (Carnivores ; 611 Species). 



The members of the Order Carnivora are widely distributed, and occur 

 in every zoological region. The Australian region, however, only possesses 

 at most four species, namely, a Dog in Australia (doubtfully native), a Cat in 



the island of Timor, and two others (of the family Viverridse) which, though 

 chiefly Oriental in their distribution, nevertheless range into some of the 

 Papuan islands. Of the eleven families constituting the Order, three are 

 marine and form a separate Sub-Order, under the name of Pinnipedia. 

 These are the Otariidse, Odobenidse and Phocidss. The Polar Bear is probably 

 found further north than any other mammal, while the southern limit of 

 distribution is carried by one of the Canidse as far as Tierra del Fuego. 

 The Bears ( Ursidse) are absent from both the Ethiopian and the Australian 

 regions, and found chiefly in the Northern Hemisphere. With two excep- 

 tions, the Procyonidse are confined to the New World, while the Hysenidae, 

 Protelidse and Viverridse are exclusively Old World animals. The other 

 families are of general distribution. 



PHOCIDJE (True or Earless Seals; 19 Species). 

 Plate 4, Map v. 



The members of this family are almost entirely marine creatures, occur- 

 ring chiefly along the shores of the Arctic and Antarctic Seas, but also found 

 to some extent in warmer latitudes and in the great inland lakes, especially 

 those of Asia. Three sub-families are recognised, the first of which 

 (Phocinse) includes the Grey Seal (Halichcerus grypus) and eight species of 

 true seal belonging to the typical genus Phoca, whose members are purely 

 inhabitants of the Northern Hemisphere. The Grey Seal ranges over North 

 Atlantic shores from Greenland and Scandinavia to North America, and 

 also inhabits the British seas. The genus Phoca, which includes, amongst 

 others, the Common Seal and the Greenland Seal, is distributed practically 

 over the whole of the Northern Hemisphere, having representatives from the 

 extreme north southwards to California, New Jersey, Portugal and Japan. 

 The Common Seal (P, vitulina) is resident in British waters, and three others 

 of the genus are more or less rare visitors thereto from the north. This genus 

 also possesses several forms worthy of special mention, inasmuch as they 

 are peculiar to inland waters. Among these are the Caspian Seal 

 (P. caspica) and the Baikal Seal (P. sibirica), each being confined to the 

 inland sea indicated by its popular name, while Lakes Ladoga and Saima 

 have also each a special form. 



The second sub-family (Monachinse) comprises seven species, three of 

 which belong to the genus Monachus and are known as Monk-Seals, occurring 

 one in the Mediterranean, another in the West Indies (where it verges on 

 extinction), and the third on the shores of Laysan in Mid-Pacific. The 

 remaining species of this sub-family are the Leopard-Seal (Ogmorhinus 

 leptonyx), and three allied species, all confined to Southern seas, and occur- 

 ring on the pack-ice of the Antarctic Ocean. 



The third and last sub-family (Cystophorinse) includes the remaining 

 three species of true or earless seals. Two of these belong to the genus 

 Macrorhinus and, from the remarkable development of the snout in the 

 males, are known as Elephant-Seals, one formerly occurring pretty generally 

 in the islands of the South Pacific, South Indian and Antarctic Oceans, but 

 now rapidly becoming extinct, while the other, found on the shores of Lower 

 California and Western Mexico, is also practically exterminated. Lastly, 

 the Crested Seal (Gystophora cristata), the typical representative of this 

 sub-family, ranges over the Arctic and North Atlantic shores, from Novaya 

 Zemlya, Spitzbergen and Greenland down the American coast to New 

 Jersey, and in Europe southwards along the coast of Scandinavia. It has 

 occasionally wandered as far as our own shores and even those of France. 



From the economic point of view the true seals are important as supply- 

 ing a valuable oil much used for lighting and lubricating purposes. It has 

 been stated that the total annual quantity of seal-oil obtained is about 

 90,000 barrels. Moreover, the skin of various species is manufactured into 

 leather and used for a variety of purposes. The species principally hunted 

 at the present day is the Greenland Seal (Phoca groenlandica), which in 

 spring is found abundantly on the ice-floes of the Greenland sea, especially 

 in the neighbourhood of Jan Mayen Island. From this hunting-ground 

 alone about 200,000 animals are procured annually by the sealing fleets 

 despatched for that purpose. 



Most seals are gregarious and polygamous, showing great affection for 

 their young and being of a gentle and submissive disposition. 



It should be here mentioned that the true Fur-Seals belong to a distinct 

 family (Otariidse), and are dealt with below. 



The Phocidse of past ages are known to us from the remains of several 

 extinct European species, from beds of Miocene and Pliocene age. 



ODOBENID^I (Walruses; 2 Species). Plate 4, Map vi. 



The huge, unwieldy animals known as Walruses are strictly confined 

 to the Arctic regions, occurring in both hemispheres. The two forms are 

 so closely allied that they are considered by some authors as belonging 

 to a single species. The best-known form (Odobenus rosmarus) formerly 

 occurred over the whole of the Polar regions of the Old World and even 

 accidentally in Scotland. It has become through persecution much circum- 

 scribed in its distribution in European waters. In the New World it is 

 now confined to the Hudson Bay and Baffin Bay regions and the coasts 

 of Greenland, though formerly ranging as far south as Nova Scotia. The 

 second form inhabits the western Arctic and the North Pacific Oceans, 

 and has a much more limited range than the last. On the American 

 coast it appears to extend southwards only as far as 55° N., and in Asia 

 to latitude 60°. 



The food of these animals consists principally of bivalve molluscs 

 and occasionally fish and crustaceans. Economically they are of import- 

 ance on account of the ivory furnished by their tusks, which, however, 

 is not so good as that of elephants. They also yield oil somewhat inferior to 

 seal-oil, while their hides are tanned and manufactured into harness, boot- 

 soles and tiller-ropes, and have of late become of enhanced value in con- 

 nection with the polishing of certain parts of the fashionable bicycle. 



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