. The geography of mammals. ivora are well represented in the EthiopianRegion. This is especially the case with the family ofCivets (Viverridse), only found elsewhere in the Pate-arctic and Oriental Regions. Out of a total number ofseventeen genera, three only are found outside this region,and out of the remaining fourteen, six are confined to theisland of Madagascar. The Aard-wolf (Proteles), which is so distinct from itsfellow Carnivores as to be allowed to constitute a familyof itself (Fig. 17, p. 95), is restricted to the Ethiopian Region,and of the Hyenas (Hy&nidse), only one of the three
. The geography of mammals. ivora are well represented in the EthiopianRegion. This is especially the case with the family ofCivets (Viverridse), only found elsewhere in the Pate-arctic and Oriental Regions. Out of a total number ofseventeen genera, three only are found outside this region,and out of the remaining fourteen, six are confined to theisland of Madagascar. The Aard-wolf (Proteles), which is so distinct from itsfellow Carnivores as to be allowed to constitute a familyof itself (Fig. 17, p. 95), is restricted to the Ethiopian Region,and of the Hyenas (Hy&nidse), only one of the threespecies strays outside its limits, into the western bordersof the Oriental Region. Another remarkable fact about the Ethiopian Carni- THE ETHIOPIAN REGION 95 vora is the entire absence of the otherwise widespreadfamily of Bears (Ursidte). This group has existed inEurope since the time when the Upper Pliocene bedswere laid down, and remains of Bears have been alsofound in the Siwalik deposits of India, which are possibly. fll Fig. 17.—The Aard-wolf.(Proteles cristatus.) of even greater age. It seems, therefore, very strangethat the Bears should never have reached Africa, whenso many of the other genera found in the same deposits have managed to do so. The Insectivora of the Ethiopian Region are fairlynumerous, and show considerable specialisation. Out of 96 THE GEOGRAPHY OF MAMMALS the six Ethiopian families three are not found elsewhere,and one of the others only extends into the PalsearcticRegion as far as Northern Africa. This is the family ofelephant-shrews (Macroscelidse). The Bats of this Region present few particular featuresof interest, belonging nearly all to widely spread generaof widely spread families. Among those that are peculiarthe most important is Epomophorus, containing eight orten species of large fruit-eating bats, with long ratherhorse-like heads, and expansible and peculiarly foldedlips. The Epomophori seem to take the place, in Africa,of the genus Pterop
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidgeogra, booksubjectmammals
