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DEDUCTIONS

1. The Order Cetacea contains from eighty to ninety known species, belonging to about forty-four genera and four families.

2. Cetaceans are found in all seas from the Equator to within the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, and in some of the larger rivers (the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Indus, and Irawadi in the Old World, and the Amazon and La Plata in the New).

3. The species of Oceanic Cetaceans are mostly very widely distributed, especially the Delphinidæ, but in some cases are local, some species being confined to the Arctic and Antarctic Seas respectively, and some being peculiar to the Pacific and to the North Atlantic.

4. The Fluviatile Dolphins proper constitute a family of themselves (Platanistida) with a very singular distribution, one genus being restricted to the rivers of India, and two others to those of South America.

5. Besides the Platanistidæ some of the Delphinidæ are found in rivers, such as Orcella fluminalis in the Irawadi, and Sotalia tucuxi (with perhaps others of the same genus) in the Amazon.

6. None of the great lakes of any continent is known to be inhabited by Cetaceans.

CHAPTER XIV

DISTRIBUTION OF EDENTATE MAMMALS

SECTION I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS

As is the case with most ancient groups, we find the various types of Edentate Mammals strictly limited to certain localities on the earth's surface, so that the study of their distribution, especially when taken in connection with what we know of the extinct forms of the same group, comes to be a matter of much interest. In the present case, however, we propose to confine our remarks to the existing Edentates, as we are discussing the distribution of recent and not of fossil mammals, and merely to allude to the extinct forms when necessary.

As regards the existing Edentates, as has been well shown by one of our leading authorities on mammals, those of the Old World and those of the New are essentially distinct. The two Old World families commonly assigned to this order, are so different in important points of structure from the American families, that it may be even considered doubtful whether they were derived from the same primary branch of mammals. We will, therefore, take the two groups separately, and begin with the forms of the New World.

SECTION II.-DISTRIBUTION OF THE NEW WORLD

EDENTATES

The Edentates of the New World are at present represented by three families, the Sloths (Bradypodida), the Ant-eaters (Myrmecophagida), and the Armadilloes (Dasypodide), all well distinguished from each other, although essentially modified on the same plan of structure, and more or less united together by other Edentates now extinct. All three families belong entirely to the Neotropical Region, although one of the Armadilloes appears to have intruded itself farther north than the generally recognized northern boundary of that Region.

Of the Sloths, two genera are well established-the Three-toed Sloths (Bradypus), with about five species, and the Two-toed Sloths (Cholopus), with two species. The Sloths are entirely arboreal in their habits, and are met with only in the dense forests of Central and Southern America, from Nicaragua down to Bolivia and Southern Brazil.

The Ant-eaters, of which three well-marked forms are known, belonging to so many genera, each with one species, have a somewhat wider distribution, being not absolutely confined to the tropical forests. The Great Ant-eater (Myrmecophaga jubata), extends as far north as Guatemala, and from Costa Rica southwards is found in suitable localities all through Venezuela, Guiana, and Brazil to Paraguay.

The Tamandua Ant-eater (Tamandua tetradactyla), which varies much in colour and markings, extends even farther north than its larger brother, as specimens have

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