Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

already referred to, are also confined to the West African Sub-region.

Turning now to the Carnivores, there are found in the West African Sub-region only, two remarkable genera, Poiana and Nandinia. Of these the former is closely allied to the genus Prionodon, a beautifully marked civetlike little animal of the Oriental Region, and the latter is akin to the Palm-civets (Paradoxurus), also found in the Oriental Region, but not in Africa.

There is only one genus of the Insectivora confined to this Region (Potamogale), already alluded to as being probably allied to the Madagascan Geogale. This much modified form is one of the few members of the Insectivora that has adopted aquatic habits. It is, for a member of the order, of considerable size.

The Bats of West Africa, as is usually the case in every land, belong mostly to widespread forms. Out of sixteen genera only two, each containing a single species, are confined to this Sub-region, while a third (Epomophorus) has not been found outside Africa. These three genera all belong to the family Pteropodide, which contains the large fruit-eating bats. A few species of Lemurs still survive in the forests of the West African Sub-region. They belong to two genera, neither of which is represented in Madagascar. Of these, one (Galago) is also found in the other parts of Africa; the other (Perodicticus), containing two species, is met with only in the West African Subregion.

The forests of West Africa are plentifully supplied with Monkeys. Most of these belong to the genus Cercopithecus, of which, out of about forty species, thirty are met with in West Africa. Another enus,

Cercocebus, contains four species, all confined to this Subregion.

Finally, it is only in these pathless and luxuriant jungles that two man-like apes, the Chimpanzee and the Gorilla, are to be met with. The Gorilla seems to be confined to the Gaboon district, but the Chimpanzee extends all over the Congo basin nearly up to the shores of Tanganyika.

These two, together with the Orangs and the Gibbons of the Oriental Region, make up the family Simiidæ, which in structure is the most closely allied to Man of all the Monkeys.

On comparing the West African Fauna with that of the rest of Africa, it will be seen that it is characterized by the exclusive presence of the following forms:

1. Hyomoschus (the Water-chevrotain), which, together with Tragulus of the Oriental Region, forms the family of Tragulida of the Ungulata.

2. Two genera (Malacomys and Deomys) of the family Muride, and Atherura (Brush-tailed porcupine), found elsewhere only in the Oriental Region, among the rodents.

3. Two genera (Poiana and Nandinia) of the family Viverrida, among the Carnivora.

4. Potamogale, among the Insectivora.

5. Two genera of fruit-eating bats (Liponyx and Trygonycteris).

6. Perodicticus, a genus of Lemurs, and Cercocebus, and Anthropopithecus, among the higher Monkeys.

The West African Region is further characterized by the absence of the following families, well represented in other parts of Africa: Orycteropodidæ (Aard-vark), Giraffida (Giraffes), Equidæ (Zebras and Wild Asses), Rhinocerotida (Rhinoceroses), and Leporida (Hares).

The following table shows the approximate number of genera of the West African Sub-region in each order and

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

SECTION VI.-THE CAPE SUB-REGION

This Sub-region, when extended so as to include the whole country as far north as Angola on the west, and up to the Tana river on the east, is on the whole, after the Malagasy, the most distinct of the four Sub-regions, since it possesses nineteen endemic genera out of a total of ninetyone. Furthermore, its area exhibits a greater range of temperature and humidity than the other Sub-regions, for, while in Natal and Mozambique tropical forest-conditions prevail, giving the fauna a certain resemblance to that of West Africa, in Cape Colony itself a temperate and fairly dry climate is found. Again, in Namaqua-land, to the north-west of Cape Colony, we meet with an open, dry, hot, desert country, the conditions of which closely approximate to those of the Saharan Sub-region. The distinctness of this Sub-region, apart from the mammals, is strongly marked by a very remarkable Flora, as well as by the exclusive possession of many forms among the other orders and classes of the animal kingdom. Among the Edentata,

H

besides the Scaly Ant-eater (Manis), of which one species extends as far south-east as the Transvaal, there is also found the Aardvark (Orycteropus), an animal characteristic of South Africa, though also occurring in East Africa as far north as the upper Nile basin. The relationships of this creature are very obscure, but the recent discovery of remains of a closely allied fossil form in beds of lower Pliocene age in the island of Samos, in the Ægean Sea, shows that the Aardvark, like so many other African animals, has migrated southwards from the Palearctic Region.

The greater number of the genera to which the numerous Antelopes of the Cape Sub-region belong, extend northwards into the Saharan and even into the West African Sub-region, although the species of the Cape Sub-region are in many cases distinct.

Among the distinct species may be mentioned the Hartebeest (Bubalis caama), the Spring-bok (Antidorcas euchore), and the Sable Antelope (Hippotragus niger). The two Gnus (Connochates) and the Pallah (Epyceros) are confined to this Sub-region. To the portion of this Sub-region south of the Zambesi are restricted two of the African horses, the Quagga (Equus quagga), now said to be extinct, and the Mountain Zebra (Equus zebra), which is fast approaching the same condition. But Burchell's Zebra (Equus burchelli), under various slight modifications, occurs in suitable localities throughout the whole Sub-region.

The White or Square-lipped Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros simus), which now only exists in two small districts of Mashonaland and Zululand, was formerly abundant in the Cape Colony and the Transvaal, but has never been met with north of the Zambesi.

Five out of the eighteen genera of Rodents found in this Sub-region are endemic. Two of these belong to the Mouse-family (Muride), and two more to a burrowing family (Spalacida); the fifth (Petromys) belongs to the family Octodontide, which the Ethiopian shares with the Neotropical Region.

The South African Sub-region, however, is especially remarkable for the large number of peculiar genera of Carnivora. Five of these genera have been formed for the reception of a number of small animals allied to the Indian Mongoose. Another, for which a separate family has been created, contains only the Aard-wolf (Proteles), an animal nearly allied to the hyenas, but with very small and rudimentary teeth, and a heavy mane of long hair. It is nocturnal, and feeds principally on carrion, being too weak to attack other living animals. The Otocyon, or Cape Hunting-dog, which constitutes another peculiar genus, is remarkable for having a greater number of molar teeth than any other mammal. Owing to this, it has been regarded by Professor Huxley as the most primitive of all existing members of its Family. Out of the six genera of Insectivora found in this Sub-region three are endemic. Of these the most interesting is the genus Chrysochloris, which forms a distinct Family, and comprises no less than eight species. These animals are sometimes known as Golden Moles," owing to the brilliant metallic lustre of their fur. They are in some respects allied to the Centetidæ, a family mentioned above as confined to Madagascar; but they are modified for a burrowing life, and externally resemble the Moles. Neither of the two remaining Orders, the Bats and the Monkeys, is represented by peculiar genera in the Cape Sub-region. This, however, is quite

66

« AnteriorContinuar »