The Geographical Distribution of Animals, Volume 2

Chapter XX: Part IV: Geographical Zoology (2)

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Sub-family VIVERRINÆ.--_Viverra_ (3 species), North and tropical Africa, the whole Oriental region to the Moluccas; _Viverricula_ (1 species) India to Java; _Genetta_ (5 species), South Europe, Palestine, Arabia, and all Africa; _Fossa_ (1 species), Madagascar; _Linsang_ (2 species), Malacca to Java; _Poiana_ (1 species), West Africa; _Galidia_ (3 species), Madagascar; _Hemigalea_ (1 species), Malacca and Borneo; _Arctictis_ (1 species) Nepal to Sumatra and Java; _Nandinia_ (1 species), West Africa; _Paradoxurus_ (9 species), the whole Oriental region; _Paguma_ (3 species), Nepal to China, Sumatra, and Borneo; _Arctogale_ (1 species), Tenasserim to Java.

Sub-family HERPESTINÆ.--_Cynogale_ (1 species), Borneo; _Galidictis_ (2 species), Madagascar; _Herpestes_ (22 species), South Palæarctic, Ethiopian, and Oriental regions; _Athylax_ (3 species), Tropical and South Africa; _Galogale_ (13 species), all Africa, North India, to Cambodja; _Galerella_ (1 species), East Africa; _Calictis_ (1 species), Ceylon (?); _Ariella_ (1 species), South Africa; _Ichneumia_ (4 species), Central, East, and South Africa; _Bdeogale_ (3 species), West and East Africa; _Urva_ (1 species), Himalayas to Aracan; _Tæniogale_ (1 species), Central India; _Onychogale_ (1 species), Ceylon; _Helogale_ (2 species) East and South Africa; _Cynictis_ (3 species), South Africa.

Sub-family RHINOGALIDÆ.--_Rhinogale_ (1 species), East Africa; _Mungos_ (3 species), all Africa; _Crossarchus_ (1 species), Tropical Africa; _Eupleres_ (1 species), Madagascar; _Suricata_ (1 species), South Africa.

_Fossil Viverridæ._--Several species of _Viverra_ and _Genetta_ have been found in the Upper Miocene of France, and many extinct genera have also been discovered. The most remarkable of these was _Ictitherium_, from the Upper Miocene of Greece, which has also been found in Hungary, Bessarabia, and France. Some of the species were larger than any living forms of Viverridæ, and approached the hyænas. Other extinct genera are _Thalassictis_ {196}and _Soricictis_ from the Upper Miocene, the former as large as a panther; _Tylodon_, of small size, from the Upper Eocene; and _Palæonyctis_ from the Lower Eocene, also small and showing a very great antiquity for this family, if really belonging to it.

FAMILY 26.--PROTELIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The curious _Proteles_ or Aard-wolf, a highly-modified form of hyæna, approaching the ichneumons, and feeding on white ants and carrion, is peculiar to South Africa.

FAMILY 27.--HYÆNIDÆ. (1 Genus, 3 Species.)

The Hyænas are characteristically Ethiopian, to which region two of the species are confined. The third, _Hyæna striata_, ranges over all the open country of India to the foot of the Himalayas, and through Persia, Asia Minor, and North Africa. Its fossil remains have been found in France.

_Extinct Species._--The cave hyæna (_H. spelæa_) occurs abundantly in the caverns of this country and of Central Europe, and is supposed to be most nearly allied to the _H. crocuta_ of South Africa. Another species is found in some parts of France. The earliest known true hyænas occur in the Pliocene formation in France, in the Red Crag (Older Pliocene) of England, and in the Upper Miocene of the Siwalik hills. In the Miocene period in Europe, quite distinct genera are found, such as Hyænictis and _Lycæna_ from the Upper Miocene of Greece; {197}_Ictitherium_, supposed to be intermediate between Viverridæ and Hyænidæ; and _Thalassictis_, uniting the weasels and hyænas.

FAMILY 28.--CANIDÆ. (3 Genera, 17 Sub-Genera, 54 Species.)

The Canidæ, comprising the animals commonly known as dogs, wolves, and foxes, have an almost universal range over the earth, being only absent from the island sub-regions of Madagascar, the Antilles, Austro-Malaya, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. With the exception of two remarkable forms--the hyæna dog (_Lycaon picta_), and the great-eared fox (_Megalotis Lalandei_), both from South Africa--all the species are usually placed in the genus _Canis_, the distribution of which will be the same as that of the family. Dr. J. E. Gray, in his arrangement of the family (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1868), subdivides it into fifteen genera, the names and general distribution of which are as follows:--

_Icticyon_ (1 species), Brazil; _Cuon_ (4 species), Siberia to Java; _Lupus_ (5 species), North America, Europe, India to Ceylon; _Dieba_ (1 species), North and West Africa; _Simenia_ (1 species), Abyssinia; _Chrysocyon_ (2 species), North and South America; _Canis_ (4 species), India, Australia (indigenous?) _Lycalopex_ (2 species), South America; _Pseudalopex_ (5 species), South America and Falkland Islands; _Thous_ (2 species), South America to Chili; _Vulpes_ (17 species), all the great continents, except South America and Australia; _Fennecus_ (4 species), all Africa; _Leucocyon_ (1 species), Arctic regions; _Urocyon_ (2 species), North America; _Nyctereutes_ (1 species), Japan, Amoorland to Canton (Plate III., vol. i. p. 226). These are all sub-genera according to Professor Carus, except _Icticyon_. The same author makes Lycaon a sub-genus, while Dr. Gray makes it a sub-family!

_Extinct Species._--The dog, wolf, and fox, are found fossil in {198}caverns in many parts of Europe, and several extinct species have been found in Tertiary deposits in Europe, North India, and South America. Two species have been found so far back as the Eocene of France, but the fragments discovered are not sufficient to determine the characters with any certainty. In North America, several species of _Canis_ occur in the Pliocene of Nebraska and La Plata. The genus _Galecynus_, of the Pliocene of Oeninghen, and _Palæocyon_, of the Brazilian caves, are supposed to belong to the Canidæ. _Amphicyon_ abounded in the Miocene period, both in Europe and North America; and some of the species were as large as a tiger. Other extinct genera are, _Cynodictis_, _Cyotherium_, and _Galethylax_, from the Eocene of France; _Pseudocyon_, _Simocyon_, and _Hemicyon_, from the Miocene; but all these show transition characters to Viverridæ or Ursidæ, and do not perhaps belong to the present family.

FAMILY 29.--MUSTELIDÆ. (21-28 Genera, 92 Species.)

The Mustelidæ constitute one of those groups which range over the whole of the great continental areas. They may be divided into three sub-families--one, the Mustelinæ, containing the weasels, gluttons, and allied forms; a second, the Lutrinæ, containing the otters; and a third, often considered a distinct family, the Melininæ, containing the badgers, ratels, skunks, and their allies.

In the first group (Mustelinæ) the genera _Martes_ and _Putorius_ (13 species), range over all the Palæarctic region, and a considerable part of the Oriental, extending through India to Ceylon, and to Java and Borneo. Two species of _Martes_ (= _Mustela_ of Baird) occur in the United States. The weasels, forming the genus _Mustela_ (20 species), have a still wider range, extending into tropical Africa and the Cordilleras of Peru, but {199}not going south of the Himalayas in India. The North American species are placed in the genus _Putorius_ by Professor Baird. An allied genus, _Gymnopus_ (4 species), is confined to the third and fourth Oriental sub-regions. _Gulo_ (1 species), the glutton, is an arctic animal keeping to the cold regions of Europe and Asia, and coming as far south as the great lakes in North America. _Galictis_ (2 species), the grisons, are confined to the Neotropical region.

The Otters (Lutrinæ) range over the whole area occupied by the family. They have been subdivided into a number of groups, such as _Barangia_ (1 species), found only in Sumatra; _Lontra_, containing 3 South American species; _Lutra_ (7 species), ranging over the whole of the Palæarctic and Oriental regions; _Nutria_ (1 species), a sea-otter confined to the west coast of America from California to Chiloe; _Lutronectes_ (1 species), from Japan only; _Aonyx_ (5 species), found in West and South Africa, and the third and fourth Oriental sub-regions. _Hydrogale_ (1 species), confined to South Africa; _Latax_ (2 species), Florida and California to Canada and British Columbia; _Pteronura_ (1 species), Brazil and Surinam; and _Enhydris_ (1 species), the peculiar sea-otter of California, Kamschatka and Japan. The last two are the only groups of otters, besides _Lutra_, admitted by Professor Carus as genera.

The Badgers and allies (Melininæ) have also a wide range, but with one exception are absent from South America. They comprise the following genera: _Arctonyx_ (1 species), Nepal to Aracan; _Meles_ (4 species), North Europe to Japan, and China as far south as Hongkong (Plate I., vol. i., p. 195); _Taxidea_ (2 species), Central and Western North America to 58° N. Lat.; _Mydaus_ (1 species), mountains of Java and Sumatra; _Melivora_ (3 species), Tropical and South Africa and India to foot of Himalayas; _Mephitis_ (12 species), America from Canada and British Columbia to the Straits of Magellan (Plate XX., vol. ii., p. 136). _Ictonyx_ (2 species), Tropical Africa to the Cape; _Helictis_ (4 species), Nepal to Java, Formosa and Shanghai (Plate VII., vol. i. p. 331).

_Fossil Mustelidæ._--Species of otter, weasel, badger, and glutton, occur in European bone caves and other Post-tertiary deposits; and in North America _Galictis_, now found only in the Neotropical region, and, with _Mephitis_, occurring in Brazilian caves.

{200}Species of _Mustela_ have been found in the Pliocene of France and of South America; and _Lutra_ in the Pliocene of North America.

In the Miocene deposits of Europe several species of _Mustela_ and _Lutra_ have been found; with the extinct genera _Taxodon_, _Potamotherium_, and _Palæomephitis_; as well as _Promephitis_ in Greece.

In the Upper Miocene of the Siwalik Hills species of _Lutra_ and _Mellivora_ are found, as well as the extinct genera _Enhydrion_ and _Ursitaxus_.

The family appears to have been unknown in North America during the Miocene period.

FAMILY 30.--PROCYONIDÆ. (4 Genera, 8 Species.)

The Procyonidæ are a small, but very curious and interesting family of bear-like quadrupeds, ranging from British Columbia and Canada on the north, to Paraguay and the limits of the tropical forests on the south.

The Racoons, forming the genus _Procyon_, are common all over North America; a well-marked variety or distinct species inhabiting the west coast, and another, most parts of South America. The genus _Nasua_, or the coatis (5 species?), extends from Mexico and Guatemala to Paraguay. The curious arboreal prehensile-tailed kinkagou (_Cercoleptes candivolvus_) is also found in Mexico and Guatemala, and in all the great forests of Peru and North Brazil. _Bassaris_ (2 species), a small weasel-like animal with a banded tail, has been usually classed with the Viverridæ or Mustelidæ, but is now found to agree closely in all important points of internal structure with this family. It is found in California, Texas, and the highlands of Mexico, and belongs therefore as much to the Nearctic as to the Neotropical region. A second species has recently been described by Professor Peters {201}from Coban in Guatemala, in which, country it has also been observed by Mr. Salvin.

_Fossil Procyonidæ._--A species of _Nasua_ has been found in the bone caves of Brazil, and a _Procyon_ in the Pliocene or Post-pliocene deposits of Illinois and Carolina.

FAMILY 31.--ÆLURIDÆ. (2 Genera, 2 Species.)

The Panda (_Ælurus fulgens_), of the forest regions of the Eastern Himalayas and East Thibet, a small cat-like bear, has peculiarities of organization which render it necessary to place it in a family by itself. (Plate VII. vol. i. p. 331). An allied genus, _Æluropus_, a remarkable animal of larger size and in colour nearly all white, has recently been described by Professor Milne-Edwards, from the mountains of East Thibet; so that the family may be said to inhabit the border lands of the Oriental and Palæarctic regions. These animals have their nearest allies in the coatis and bears.

FAMILY 32.--URSIDÆ. (5 Genera, or Sub-genera, 15 Species.)

The Bears have a tolerably wide distribution, although they are entirely absent from the Australian and Ethiopian, and almost so from the Neotropical region, one species only being found in the Andes of Peru and Chili. They comprise the following groups, some of which are doubtfully ranked as genera.

_Thalassarctos_, the polar bear (1 species) inhabiting the Arctic regions; _Ursus_, the true bears (12 species), which range over {202}all the Nearctic and Palæarctic regions as far as the Atlas Mountains, the Indo-Chinese sub-region in the mountains, and to Hainan and Formosa; _Helarctos_, the Malay or sun-bear (1 species) confined to the Indo-Malayan sub-region; _Melursus_ or _Prochilus_, the honey-bear (1 species), confined to the first and second Oriental sub-regions, over which it ranges from the Ganges to Ceylon; and _Tremarctos_, the spectacled bear--commonly known as _Ursus ornatus_--which is isolated in the Andes of Peru and Chili, and forms a distinct group.

_Fossil Ursidæ._--Two bears (_Ursus spelæus_ and _U. priscus_) closely allied to living species, abound in the Post-tertiary deposits of Europe; and others of the same age are found in North America, as well as an extinct genus, _Arctodus_.

_Ursus arvernensis_ is found in the Pliocene formation of France, and the extinct genus _Leptarchus_ in that of North America.

Several species of _Amphicyon_, which appears to be an ancestral form of this family, are found in the Miocene deposits of Europe and N. India; while _Ursus_ also occurs in the Siwalik Hills and Nerbudda deposits.

FAMILY 33.--OTARIIDÆ (4 Genera, 8 Species.)

The Otariidæ, or Eared Seals, comprehending the sea-bears and sea-lions, are confined to the temperate and cold shores of the North Pacific, and to similar climates in the Southern Hemisphere, where the larger proportion of the species are found. They are entirely absent from the North Atlantic shores. Mr. J. A. Allen, in his recent discussion of this family (Bull. Harvard Museum) divides them into the following genera:--

_Otaria_ (1 species), Temperate South America, from Chili to La Plata; _Callorhinus_ (1 species), Behring's Straits and Kamschatka; _Arctocephalus_ (3 species), temperate regions of the {203}Southern Hemisphere; _Zalophus_ (2 species), North Pacific, from California to Japan, and the shores of Australia and New Zealand; _Eumetopias_ (1 species), Behring's Straits and California.

_Fossil Otariidæ._--Remains supposed to belong to this family have been found in the Miocene of France.

FAMILY 34.--TRICHECHIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The Morse, or Walrus (_Trichecus rosmarus_), which alone constitutes this family, is a characteristic animal of the North Polar regions, hardly passing south of the Arctic circle except on the east and west coasts of North America, where it sometimes reaches Lat. 60°. It is most abundant on the shores of Spitzbergen, but is not found on the northern shores of Asia between Long. 80° and 160° E., or on the north shores of America from 100° to 150° west.

Its remains have been found fossil in Europe as far south as France, and in America as far as Virginia; but the small fragments discovered may render the identification uncertain.

FAMILY 35.--PHOCIDÆ. (13 Genera, 21 Species.)

The earless or true Seals are pretty equally divided between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, frequenting almost exclusively the temperate and cold regions, except two species said to occur among the West Indian islands. The genus _Phoca_ and its close allies, as well as _Halichoerus_ and _Pelagius_, are {204}northern; while _Stenorhynchus_ and _Morunga_, with their allies, are mostly southern. The genera admitted by Dr. Gray in his catalogue are as follows:--

_Callocephalus_ (3 species), Greenland, North Sea, also the Caspian Sea, and Lakes Aral and Baikal; _Pagomys_ (2 species), North Sea, North Pacific, and Japan; _Pagophilus_ (2 species), North Pacific and North Atlantic; _Halicyon_ (1 species), North West coast of America; _Phoca_ (2 species), North Atlantic and North Pacific, Japan; _Halichoerus_ (1 species), Greenland, North Sea, and Baltic; _Pelagius_ (2 species), Madeira, Mediterranean, Black Sea; _Stenorhynchus_ (1 species), Antarctic Ocean, Falkland Islands, New Zealand; _Lobodon_ (1 species), Antarctic Ocean; _Leptonyx_ (1 species), Antarctic Ocean, South Australia, East Patagonia; _Ommatophoca_ (1 species), Antarctic Ocean; _Morunga_ (2 species), California, Falkland Islands, Temperate regions of Southern Ocean; _Cystophora_ (2 species), North Atlantic, Antilles.

_Fossil Seals._--Remains of living species of seals have been found in Post-tertiary deposits in many parts of Europe and in Algeria, as well as in New Zealand. _Pristiphoca occitana_ is a fossil seal from the Pliocene of Montpellier, while a species of _Phoca_ is said to have been found in the Miocene deposits of the United States.

_General Remarks on the Distribution of the Carnivora._

_Terrestrial Carnivora._--For the purposes of geographical distribution, the terrestrial and aquatic Carnivora differ too widely to be considered in one view, their areas being limited by barriers of a very different nature. The terrestrial Carnivora form a very extensive and considerably varied group of animals, having, with the doubtful exception of Australia, a world-wide distribution. Yet the range of modification of form is not very great, and the occurrence of three families consisting of but one species each, is an indication of a great amount of recent extinction. One of the most marked features presented by this group is its comparative scarcity in the Neotropical region, only four families being represented there (not counting the Ursidæ, which has only one Andean species), and both genera and species are few in number. Even the Procyonidæ, which are especially South {205}American, have but two genera and six species in that vast area. We might therefore, from these considerations alone, conclude that Carnivora are a development of the northern hemisphere, and have been introduced into the Neotropical region at a comparatively recent epoch. The claim of the Nearctic region to be kept distinct from the Palæarctic (with which some writers have wished to unite it) is well maintained by its possession of at least six species of _Mephitis_, or skunk, a group having no close allies in any other region,--and the genera _Procyon_ and _Bassaris_,--for the latter, ranging from the high lands of Guatemala and Mexico to Texas and California, may be considered a Nearctic rather than a Neotropical form. In the other families, the most marked feature is the total absence of Ursidæ from the Ethiopian region. The great mass of the generic forms of Carnivora, however, are found in the Oriental and Ethiopian regions, which possess all the extensive group of Viverridæ (except a few species in the fourth Palæarctic sub-region) and a large number of Felidæ and Mustelidæ.

_Aquatic Carnivora._--The aquatic Carnivora present no very marked features of distribution, except their preference for cold and temperate rather than tropical seas. Their nearest approximation to the terrestrial group, is supposed to be that of the Otariidæ to the Ursidæ; but this must be very remote, and the occurrence of both seals and bears in the Miocene period, shows, that until we find some late Secondary or early Tertiary formation rich in Mammalian remains, we are not likely to get at the transition forms indicating the steps by which the aquatic Carnivora were developed. The most interesting special fact of distribution to be noticed, is the occurrence of seals, closely allied to those inhabiting the northern seas, in the Caspian, Lake Aral, and Lake Baikal. In the case of the two first-named localities there is little difficulty, as they are connected with the North Sea by extensive plains of low elevation, so that a depression of less than 500 feet would open a free communication with the ocean. At a comparatively recent epoch, a great gulf of the Arctic ocean must have occupied the valley of the Irtish, and extended to the Caspian Sea; till the elevation of the Kirghiz Steppes cut off the {206}communication with the ocean, leaving an inland sea with its seals. Lake Baikal, however, offers much greater difficulties; since it is not only a fresh-water lake, but is situated in a mountain district nearly 2,000 feet above the sea level, and entirely separated from the plains by several hundred miles of high land. It is true that such an amount of submergence and elevation is known to have occurred in Europe so recently as during the Glacial period; but Lake Baikal is so surrounded by mountains, that it must at that time have been filled with ice, if at anything like its present elevation. Its emergence from the sea must therefore have taken place since the cold epoch, and this would imply that an enormous extent of Northern Asia has been very recently under water.

We are accustomed to look on Seals as animals which exclusively inhabit salt water; but it is probably from other causes than its saltness that they usually keep to the open sea, and there seems no reason why fresh-water should not suit them quite as well, provided they find in it a sufficiency of food, facilities for rearing their young, and freedom from the attacks of enemies. As already remarked in vol. i. p. 218, Mr. Belt's ingenious hypothesis (founded on personal examination of the Siberian Steppes), that during the Glacial period the northern ice-cap dammed up the waters of the northward flowing Asiatic rivers, and thus formed a vast fresh-water lake which might have risen as high as Lake Baikal, seems to offer the best solution of this curious problem of distribution.

_Range of Carnivora in Time._--Carnivora have been found in all the Tertiary deposits, and comprise a number of extinct genera and even families. Several genera of Canidæ occur in the Upper Eocene of Europe; but the most remarkable fact is, that even in the Lower Eocene are found two well-marked forms, _Palæonyctis_, one of the Viverridæ, and _Arctocyon_, forming a distinct family type of very generalized characters, but unmistakably a carnivore. This last has been found at La Fère, in the north-east of France, in a deposit which, according to M. Gaudry, is the very lowest of the Lower Eocene formation in Europe. _Arctocyon_ is therefore one of the oldest, if not the very oldest, of the higher forms of mammal yet discovered.

{207}_Order V.--CETACEA._

FAMILY 36.--BALÆNIDÆ. (6 Genera, 14 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.--Temperate and Cold Seas of both Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

This family comprises the whalebone or "right" whales, the best known species being the Greenland whale (_Balæna mysticetus_). Allied species are found in all parts of the southern seas, as far north as the Cape of Good Hope; while some of the northern species are found off the coast of Spain, and even enter the Mediterranean. As most of the species indicated are imperfectly known, and their classification by no means well settled, no useful purpose will be served by enumerating the genera or sub-genera.

FAMILY 37.--BALÆNOPTERIDÆ. (9 Genera, 22 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.--Cold and Temperate Seas of both Hemispheres.

This family comprises the finner whales and rorquals, and are characterised by possessing a dorsal fin and having the baleen or whalebone less developed. They are abundant in all northern seas, less so in the southern hemisphere, but they seem occasionally to enter the tropical seas. The best known genera are _Megaptera_ (7 species); _Physalus_ (4 species); and _Balænoptera_ (2 species); all of which have species in the North Sea.

FAMILY 38.--CATODONTIDÆ. (4 Genera, or Sub-Genera, 6 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.--All the Tropical Oceans, extending north and south into Temperate waters.

This family, comprising the cachalots or sperm whales, and black-fish, are separated from the true whales by having teeth in the lower jaw and no whalebone. They are pre-eminently a tropical, as distinguished from the two preceding which are {208}arctic and antarctic families. The spermaceti whale (_Catodon macrocephalus_) abounds in the Pacific Ocean and in the deep Moluccan Sea, and also in the Indian Ocean and the Mozambique Channel. In the Atlantic it is scarce, although it occasionally comes north as far as our shores.

The genera of Catodontidæ as given by Dr. Gray are, _Catodon_ (2 species?), Warm Eastern Oceans; _Physeter_ (1 species), "the black fish," North Sea; _Cogia_ (2 species), South Temperate Oceans; _Euphysetes_ (1 species), Coast of Australia.

FAMILY 39.--HYPEROODONTIDÆ. (9 Genera or Sub-Genera, 12 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.--Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, and Southern Ocean.

This family consists of the beaked whales, which have no permanent teeth in the upper jaw. The genera, according to Dr. Gray, are, _Hyperoodon_ (2 species) "bottle-nosed whales," North Sea; _Lagenocetus_ (1 species), North Sea; _Epiodon_ (2 species), North and South Atlantic; _Petrorhynchus_ (2 species), Mediterranean Sea and Southern Ocean; _Berardius_ (1 species), New Zealand; _Xiphius_ (1 species) North Atlantic; _Dolichodon_ (1 species), Cape of Good Hope; _Neoziphius_ (1 species) Mediterranean; _Dioplodon_ (1 species), Indian Ocean.

FAMILY 40.--MONODONTIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

The "Narwhal" (_Monodon monoceros_) which constitutes this family, is placed by Dr. Gray along with the "white whales," in his family Belugidæ. It inhabits the North Sea.

FAMILY 41.--DELPHINIDÆ. (24 Genera or Sub-Genera, 100 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.--All Oceans, Seas, and Great Rivers of the globe.

This family, including the Porpoises, Dolphins, White Whales, &c., may be described as small, fish-shaped whales, having teeth {209}in both jaws. According to Dr. Gray they form seven families and 24 genera; according to Professor Carus, four sub-families and 8 genera, but as these groups appear to be established on quite different principles, and often differ widely from each other, I shall simply enumerate Dr. Gray's genera with their distribution as given in his British Museum Catalogue.

_Platanista_ (2 species), long-snouted porpoises, inhabiting the Ganges and Indus; _Inia_ (1 species), a somewhat similar form, inhabiting the upper waters of the Amazonian rivers: _Steno_ (8 species), Indian Ocean, Cape of Good Hope, and West Pacific; _Sotalia_ (1 species), Guiana; _Delphinus_ (10 species), all the oceans; _Clymenia_ (14 species), all the oceans; _Delphinapterus_ (1 species), South Atlantic; _Tursio_ (7 species), Atlantic and Indian Oceans; _Eutropia_ (2 species), Chili, and Cape of Good Hope; _Electra_, (8 species), all the oceans; _Leucopleurus_ (1 species), North Sea; _Lagenorhynchus_ (1 species), North Sea; _Pseudorca_ (2 species), North Sea, Tasmania; _Orcaella_ (2 species), Ganges; _Acanthodelphis_ (1 species), Brazil; _Phocæna_ (2 species), North Sea; _Neomeris_ (1 species), India; _Grampus_ (3 species), North Sea, Mediterranean, Cape of Good Hope; _Globiocephalus_ (14 species), all the oceans; _Sphærocephalus_ (1 species), North Atlantic; _Orca_ (9 species), Northern and Southern Oceans; _Ophysia_ (1 species), North Pacific; _Beluga_ (6 species), Arctic Seas, Australia; _Pontoporia_ (1 species), Monte Video.

_Fossil Cetacea._

Remains of Cetacea are tolerably abundant in Tertiary deposits, both in Europe and North America. In the Lower Pliocene of England, France, and Germany, extinct species of five or six living genera of whales and dolphins have been found; and most of these occur also in the Upper Miocene, along with many others, referred to about a dozen extinct genera.

In the Post-pliocene deposits of Vermont and South Carolina, several extinct species have been found belonging to living genera; but in the Miocene deposits of the Eastern United States cetacean remains are much more abundant, more than 30 species of {210}extinct whales and dolphins having been described, most of them belonging to extinct genera.

The Zeuglodontidæ, an extinct family of carnivorous whales, with double-fanged serrated molar teeth, whose affinities are somewhat doubtful, are found in the older Pliocene of Europe, and in the Miocene and Eocene of the Eastern United States. _Zeuglodon_ abounds in the United States, and one species reached a length of seventy feet. A species of this genus is said to have been found in Malta. _Squalodon_ occurs in Europe and North America; and in the latter country four or five other genera have been described, of which one, _Saurocetes_, has been found also at Buenos Ayres.

_Order VI.--SIRENIA._

FAMILY 42.--MANATIDÆ. (3 Genera, 5 Species?)

The Sea-cows are herbivorous aquatic animals living on the coasts or in the great rivers of several parts of the globe. _Manatus_ (2 species) inhabits both shores of the Atlantic, one species ranging from the Gulf of Mexico to North Brazil, and ascending the Amazon far into the interior of the continent; while the other is found on the west coast of Africa. _Halicore_ (2 species?), the Dugong, is peculiar to the Indian Ocean, extending from Mozambique to the Red Sea, thence to Western India and Ceylon, the Malay Archipelago and the north coast of Australia. _Rytina_ (1 species), supposed to be now extinct, inhabited recently the North Pacific, between Kamschatka and Behring's Straits.

_Fossil Sirenia._--Extinct species of _Manatus_ have been found in the Post-pliocene deposits of Eastern North America from {211}Maryland to Florida; and an extinct genus, _Prorastomus_, in some Tertiary deposits in the Island of Jamaica.

In Post-pliocene deposits in Siberia, remains of _Rytina_ have been found; while several species of the extinct genus _Halitherium_, perhaps intermediate between _Manatus_ and _Halicore_, have been found in the older Pliocene and Upper Miocene of France and Germany.

_Order VII.--UNGULATA._

FAMILY 43.--EQUIDÆ. (1 Genus, 8 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.
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NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN
SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS.
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LIVING SPECIES.
| | | | |
-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- 2. 3 -- |1. 2. 3 -- |-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --
| | | | |
EXTINCT SPECIES.
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1. 2 -- -- |1. 2. 3 -- |1. 2. 3. 4 |-- -- -- --| 1 -- 3 -- |-- -- -- --
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The Horses, Asses, and Zebras form a highly specialized group now confined to the Ethiopian and Palæarctic regions, but during the middle and later tertiaries having a very extensive range. The zebras (3 species) inhabit the greater part of the Ethiopian region, while the asses (4 species) are characteristic of the deserts of the Palæarctic region from North Africa and Syria to Western India, Mongolia, and Manchuria. The domestic horse is not known in a wild state, but its remains are found in recent deposits from Britain to the Altai Mountains, so that its disappearance is probably due to human agency.

_Extinct Equidæ._--Extinct forms of this family are very numerous. The genus _Equus_ occurs in Post-pliocene and Pliocene deposits in Europe, North America, and South America. In North America the species are most numerous. An allied genus _Hipparion_, having rudimentary lateral toes, is represented {212}by several species in the Pliocene of North America, while in Europe it occurs both in the Older Pliocene and Upper Miocene. Various other allied forms, in which the lateral toes are more and more developed, and most of which are now classed in a distinct family, Anchitheridæ, range back through the Miocene to the Eocene period. A sufficient account of these has already been given in vol. i. chap. vi. p. 135, to which the reader is referred for the supposed origin and migrations of the horse.

Family 44--TAPIRIDÆ. (2 Genera? 6 Species.)

The Tapirs form a small group of animals whose discontinuous distribution plainly indicates their approaching extinction. For a long time only two species were known, the black American, and the white-banded Malay tapir, the former confined to the equatorial forests of South America, the latter to the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo (Plate VIII. vol. i. p. 337). Lately however another, or perhaps two distinct species (or according to Dr. J. E. Gray, four!) have been discovered in the Andes of New Granada and Ecuador, at an elevation of from 8,000 to 12,000 feet; while one or perhaps two more, forming the allied genus _Elasmognathus_, have been found to inhabit Central America from Panama to Guatemala.

_Extinct Tapirs._--True tapirs inhabited Western Europe, from the latest Pliocene back to the earliest Miocene times; while they only occur in either North or South America in the Post-pliocene deposits and caves. The singular distribution of the living species is thus explained, since we see that they are an Old World group which only entered the American continent at a comparatively recent epoch. An ancestral form of this group--_Lophiodon_--is found in Miocene and Eocene deposits of {213}Europe and North America; while a still more ancient form of large size is found in the Lower Eocene of France and England, indicating an immense antiquity for this group of Mammalia. There are many other extinct forms connecting these with the Palæotheridæ, already noticed in chapter vi. (vol. i. pp. 119-125).

FAMILY 45.--RHINOCEROTIDÆ. (1 Genus, 9 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.
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NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN
SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS.
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LIVING SPECIES.
| | | | |
-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|1. 2. 3 -- |-- -- 3. 4 |-- -- -- --
| | | | |
EXTINCT SPECIES.
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-- -- -- --|1. 2 -- -- |1. 2. 3. 4 |-- -- -- --| 1 -- 3 -- |-- -- -- --
| | | | |

Living Rhinoceroses are especially characteristic of Africa, with Northern and Malayan India. Four or perhaps five species, all two-horned, are found in Africa, where they range over the whole country south of the desert to the Cape of Good Hope. In the Oriental region there are also four or five species, which range from the forests at the foot of the Himalayas eastwards through Assam, Chittagong, and Siam, to Sumatra, Borneo and Java. Three of these are one-horned, the others found in Sumatra, and northwards to Pegu and Chittagong, two-horned. The Asiatic differ from the African species in some dental characters, but they are in other respects so much alike that they are not generally considered to form distinct genera. In his latest catalogue however (1873), Dr. Gray has four genera, _Rhinoceros_ (4 species), and _Ceratorhinus_ (2 species), Asiatic; _Rhinaster_ (2 species), and _Ceratotherium_ (2 species), African.

_Extinct Rhinocerotidæ._--Numerous species of _Rhinoceros_ ranged over Europe and Asia from the Post-pliocene back to the Upper Miocene period, and in North America during the Pliocene period {214}only. The hornless _Acerotherium_ is Miocene only, in both countries. Other genera are _Leptodon_ from Greece, and _Hyracodon_ from Nebraska, both of Miocene age. More than 20 species of extinct rhinoceroses are known, and one has even been found at an altitude of 16,000 feet in Thibet.

FAMILY 46.--HIPPOPOTAMIDÆ. (1 Genus, 2 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.
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NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN
SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS.
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LIVING SPECIES.
| | | | |
-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|1. 2. 3 -- |-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --
| | | | |
EXTINCT SPECIES.
| | | | |
-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|1. 2 -- -- |-- -- -- --| 1 -- 3 -- |-- -- -- --
| | | | |

The Hippopotamus inhabits all the great rivers of Africa; a distinct species of a smaller size being found on the west coast, and on some of the rivers flowing into Lake Tchad.

_Fossil Hippopotami._--Eight extinct species of _Hippopotamus_ are known from Europe and India, the former Post-pliocene or Pliocene, the latter of Upper Miocene age. They ranged as far north as the Thames valley. An extinct genus from the Siwalik Hills, _Merycopotamus_, according to Dr. Falconer connects _Hippopotamus_ with _Anthracotherium_, an extinct form from the Miocene of Europe, allied to the swine.

FAMILY 47.--SUIDÆ. (5 Genera, 22 Species.)

The Swine may be divided into three well-marked groups, from peculiarities in their dentition. 1. The Dicotylinæ, or {215}peccaries (1 genus, _Dicotyles_). These offer so many structural differences that they are often classed as a separate family. 2. The true swine (3 genera, _Sus_, _Potamochoerus_, and _Babirusa_); and, 3. The Phacochoerinæ, or wart hogs (1 genus, _Phacochoerus_). These last are also sometimes made into a separate family, but they are hardly so distinct as the Dicotylinæ.

The Peccaries (2 species), are peculiar to the Neotropical region, extending from Mexico to Paraguay. They also spread northwards into Texas, and as far as the Red River of Arkansas, thus just entering the Nearctic region; but with this exception swine are wholly absent from this region, forming an excellent feature by which to differentiate it from the Palæarctic.

_Sus_ (14 species), ranges over the Palæarctic and Oriental regions and into the first Australian sub-region as far as New Guinea; but it is absent from the Ethiopian region, or barely enters it on the north-east. _Potamochoerus_ (3 species?), is wholly Ethiopian (Plate V. vol. i. p. 278). _Babirusa_ (1 species), is confined to two islands, Celebes and Bouru, in the first Australian sub-region.

_Phacochoerus_ (2 species), ranges over tropical Africa from Abyssinia to Caffraria.

Dr. J. E. Gray divides true swine (_Sus_) into 7 genera, but it seems far better to keep them as one.

_Fossil Suidæ._--These are very numerous. Many extinct species of wild hog (_Sus_), are found in Europe and North India, ranging back from the Post-pliocene to the Upper Miocene formations. In the Miocene of Europe are numerous extinct genera, _Bothriodon_, _Anthracotherium_, _Palæochoerus_, _Hyotherium_, and some others; while in the Upper Eocene occur _Cebochoerus_, _Choeropotamus_, and _Acotherium_,--these early forms having more resemblance to the peccaries.

None of these genera are found in America, where we have the living genus _Dicotyles_ in the Post-pliocene and Pliocene deposits, both of North and South America; with a number of extinct genera in the Miocene. The chief of these are, _Elotherium_, _Perchoerus_, _Leptochoerus_, and _Nanohyus_, all from Dakota, and _Thinohyus_, from Oregon. One extinct genus, _Platygonus_, closely allied to _Dicotyles_, is found in the Post-pliocene of Nebraska, {216}Oregon, and Arkansas. _Elotherium_ is said to be allied to the peccary and hippopotamus. _Hyopotamus_, from the Miocene of Dakota, is allied to _Anthracotherium_, and forms with it (according to Dr. Leidy) a distinct family of ancestral swine.

It thus appears, that the swine were almost equally well represented in North America and Europe, during Miocene and Pliocene times, but by entirely distinct forms; and it is a remarkable fact that these hardy omnivorous animals, should, like the horses, have entirely died out in North America, except a few peccaries which have preserved themselves in the sub-tropical parts and in the southern continent, to which they are comparatively recent emigrants. We can hardly have a more convincing proof of the vast physical changes that have occurred in the North American continent during the Pliocene and Post-pliocene epochs, than the complete extinction of these, along with so many other remarkable types of Mammalia.

According to M. Gaudry, the ancestors of all the swine, with the hippopotami and extinct _Anthracotherium_, _Merycopotamus_, and many allied forms,--are the _Hyracotherium_ and _Pliolophus_, both found only in the London clay belonging to the Lower Eocene formation.

FAMILY 48.--CAMELIDÆ. (2 Genera, 6 Species).

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.
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NEOTROPICAL| NEARCTIC |PALÆARCTIC | ETHIOPIAN | ORIENTAL | AUSTRALIAN
SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS.
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LIVING SPECIES.
| | | | |
1. -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- 2. 3 -- |-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --
| | | | |
EXTINCT SPECIES.
| | | | |
1. -- -- --|-- 2. 3. 4 |-- -- 3 -- |-- -- -- --|-- -- 3. --|-- -- -- --
| | | | |

The Camels are an exceedingly restricted group, the majority of the species now existing only in a state of domestication. The genus _Camelus_ (2 species), is a highly characteristic desert form {217}of the Palæarctic region, from the Sahara to Mongolia as far as Lake Baikal. _Auchenia_ (4 species), comprehending the Llamas and Alpacas, is equally characteristic of the mountains and deserts of the southern part of South America. Two species entirely domesticated inhabit the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes; and two others are found in a wild state, the vicuna in the Andes of Peru and Chili (Plate XVI. vol. ii. p. 40), and the guanaco over the plains of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.

_Extinct Camelidæ._--No fossil remains of camels have been found in Europe, but one occurs in the deposits of the Siwalik Hills, usually classed as Upper Miocene, but which some naturalists think are more likely of Older Pliocene age. _Merycotherium_, teeth of which have been found in the Siberian drift, is supposed to belong to this family.

In North America, where no representative of the family now exists, the camel-tribe were once abundant. In the Post-pliocene deposits of California an _Auchenia_ has been found, and in those of Kansas one of the extinct genus _Procamelus_. In the Pliocene period, this genus, which was closely allied to the living camels, abounded, six or seven species having been described from Nebraska and Texas, together with an allied form _Homocamelus_. In the Miocene period different genera appear,--_Poebrotherium_, and _Protomeryx_,--while a _Procamelus_ has been found in deposits of this age in Virginia.

In South America a species of _Auchenia_ has been found in the caves of Brazil, and others in the Pliocene deposits of the pampas, together with two extinct genera, _Palæolama_ and _Camelotherium_.

We thus find the ancestors of the Camelidæ in a region where they do not now exist, but which is situated so that the now widely separated living forms could easily have been derived from it. This case offers a remarkable example of the light thrown by palæontology on the distribution of living animals; and it is a warning against the too common practice of assuming the direct land connection of remote continents, in order to explain similar instances of discontinuous distribution to that of the present family.

{218}FAMILY 49.--TRAGULIDÆ. (2 Genera, 6 Species.)

The Tragulidæ are a group of small, hornless, deer-like animals, with tusks in the upper jaw, and having some structural affinities with the camels. The musk-deer was formerly classed in this family, which it resembles externally; but a minute examination of its structure by M. Milne-Edwards, has shown it to be more nearly allied to the true deer. The Chevrotains, or mouse-deer, _Tragulus_ (5 species), range over all India to the foot of the Himalayas and Ceylon, and through Assam, Malacca, and Cambodja, to Sumatra, Borneo, and Java (Plate VIII., vol. i. p. 337). _Hyomoschus_ (1 species), is found in West Africa.

_Extinct Tragulidæ._--A species of _Hyomoschus_ is said to have been found in the Miocene of the South of France, as well as three extinct genera, _Dremotherium_ (also found in Greece), with _Lophiomeryx_ from the Upper Miocene, said to be allied to _Tragulus_; and _Amphitragulus_ from the Lower Miocene, of more remote affinities, and sometimes placed among the Deer. There seems to be no doubt, however, that this family existed in Europe in Miocene times; and thus another case of discontinuous distribution is satisfactorily accounted for.

FAMILY 50.--CERVIDÆ. (8 Genera, 52 Species.)

The Cervidæ, or deer tribe, are an extensive group of animals equally adapted for inhabiting forests or open plains, the Arctic {219}regions or the Tropics. They range in fact over the whole of the great continents of the globe, with the one striking exception of Africa, where they are only found on the shores of the Mediterranean which form part of the Palæarctic region. The following is the distribution of the genera.

_Alces_ (1 species), the elk or moose, ranges all over Northern Europe and Asia, as far south as East Prussia, the Caucasus, and North China; and over Arctic America to Maine on the East, and British Columbia on the west. The American species may however be distinct, although very closely allied to that of Europe. _Tarandus_ (1 species), the reindeer, has a similar range to the last, but keeps farther north in Europe, inhabiting Greenland and Spitzbergen; and in America extends farther south, to New Brunswick and the north shore of Lake Superior. There are several varieties or species of this animal confined to special districts, but they are not yet well determined. _Cervus_ (40 species), the true deer, have been sub-divided into numerous sub-genera characteristic of separate districts. They range over the whole area of the family, except that they do not go beyond 57° N. in America and a little further in Europe and Asia. In South America they extend over Patagonia and even to Tierra del Fuego. They are found in the north of Africa, and over the whole of the Oriental region, and beyond it as far as the Moluccas and Timor, where however they have probably been introduced by man at an early period. _Dama_ (1 species), the fallow deer, is a native of the shores of the Mediterranean, from Spain and Barbary to Syria. _Capreolus_ (2 species), the roe-deer, inhabits all Temperate and South Europe to Syria, with a distinct species in N. China. _Cervulus_ (4 species), the muntjacs, are found in all the forest districts of the Oriental region, from India and Ceylon to China as far north as Ningpo and Formosa, also southward to the Philippines, Borneo, and Java. _Moschus_ (1 species), the musk-deer, inhabits Central Asia from the Amoor and Pekin, to the Himalayas and the Siamese mountains above 8000 ft. elevation. This is usually classed as a distinct family, but M. Milne-Edwards remarks, that it differs in no important points of organisation from the rest of the Cervidæ. _Hydropotes_ {220}(1 species) inhabits China from the Yang-tse Kiang northwards. This new genus has recently been discovered by Mr. Swinhoe, who says its nearest affinities are with _Moschus_. Other new forms are _Lophotragus_, and _Elaphodus_, both inhabiting North China; the former is hornless, the latter has very small horns about an inch long.

_Extinct Deer._--Numerous extinct species of the genus _Cervus_ are found fossil in many parts of Europe, and in all formations between the Post-pliocene and the Upper Miocene. The Elk and Reindeer are also found in caves and Post-pliocene deposits, the latter as far south as the South of France. Extinct genera only, occur in the Upper Miocene in various parts of Europe:--_Micromeryx_, _Palæomeryx_, and _Dicrocercus_ have been described; with others referred doubtfully to _Moschus_, and an allied genus _Amphimoschus_.

In N. America, remains of this family are very scarce, a _Cervus_ allied to the existing wapiti deer, being found in Post-pliocene deposits, and an extinct genus, _Leptomeryx_, in the Upper Miocene of Dakota and Oregon. Another extinct genus, _Merycodus_, from the Pliocene of Oregon, is said to be allied to camels and deer.

In South America, several species of _Cervus_ have been found in the Brazilian caves, and in the Pliocene deposits of La Plata.

It thus appears, that there are not yet sufficient materials for determining the origin and migrations of the Cervidæ. There can be little doubt that they are an Old World group, and a comparatively recent development; and that some time during the Miocene period they passed to North America, and subsequently to the Southern continent. They do not however appear to have developed much in North America, owing perhaps to their finding the country already amply stocked with numerous forms of indigenous Ungulates.

{221}FAMILY 51.--CAMELOPARDALIDÆ. (1 Genus, 1 Species.)

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION.
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SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS|SUB-REGIONS.
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LIVING SPECIES.
| | | | |
-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|1 -- 3 -- |-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --
| | | | |
EXTINCT SPECIES.
| | | | |
-- -- -- --|-- -- -- --|-- 2 -- -- |1 -- -- -- |-- -- 3 -- |-- -- -- --
| | | | |

The Camelopardalidæ, or giraffes, now consist of but a single species which ranges over all the open country of the Ethiopian region, and is therefore almost absent from West Africa, which is more especially a forest district. During the Middle Tertiary period, however, these animals had a wider range, over Southern Europe and Western India as far as the slopes of the Himalayas.

_Extinct Species._--Species of _Camelopardalis_ have been found in Greece, the Siwalik Hills, and Perim Island at the entrance to the Red Sea; and an extinct genus, _Helladotherium_, more bulky but not so tall as the giraffe, ranged from the south of France to Greece and North-west India.

FAMILY 52.--BOVIDÆ. (34 Genera, 149 Species.)

This large and important family, includes all the animals commonly known as oxen, buffaloes, antelopes, sheep, and goats, which have been classed by many naturalists in at least three, and sometimes four or five, distinct families. Zoologically, they {222}are briefly and accurately defined as, "hollow-horned ruminants;" and, although they present wide differences in external form, they grade so insensibly into each other, that no satisfactory definition of the smaller family groups can be found. As a whole they are almost confined to the great Old World continent, only a few forms extending along the highlands and prairies of the Nearctic region; while one peculiar type is found in Celebes, an island which is almost intermediate between the Oriental and Australian regions. In each of the Old World regions there are found a characteristic set of types. Antelopes prevail in the Ethiopian region; sheep and goats in the Palæarctic; while the oxen are perhaps best developed in the Oriental region.

Sir Victor Brooke, who has paid special attention to this family, divides them into 13 sub-families, and I here adopt the arrangement of the genera and species which he has been so good as to communicate to me in MSS.

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The Geographical Distribution of Animals, Volume 2Chapter XX: Part IV: Geographical Zoology (2)

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