. The geography of mammals. are somewhatdoubtful, but seem on the whole to approach theSolenodonts, a group confined to the Greater best known of the Centetidie is the Tenrec—the largestmember of the order, between twelve and sixteen incheslong, and devoid of a tail (see Fig. 20, p. 104). The youngof this creature are covered with spines like a hedgehog,but these are lost in the adult state. The Bats of Madagascar, as would naturally be expected,do not exhibit the great peculiarities found among theother orders of mammals. Out of about twelve generaonly one is confined to the isla
. The geography of mammals. are somewhatdoubtful, but seem on the whole to approach theSolenodonts, a group confined to the Greater best known of the Centetidie is the Tenrec—the largestmember of the order, between twelve and sixteen incheslong, and devoid of a tail (see Fig. 20, p. 104). The youngof this creature are covered with spines like a hedgehog,but these are lost in the adult state. The Bats of Madagascar, as would naturally be expected,do not exhibit the great peculiarities found among theother orders of mammals. Out of about twelve generaonly one is confined to the island. The distribution ofPteropiis, the genus of large tropical fruit-eating bats, often 104 THE GEOGRAPHY OF MAMMALS called Flying-foxes, is interesting. Five members of thisgenus are found in the Malagasy Sub-region, including twospecies in the Comoro islands, and although these islandsare almost within sight of the mainland of Africa, not asingle representative of the true Pteropus has yet beenobtained on the Fig. 20.—The Tenrec.{Centers ecaudatus.) Finally, among the Lemurs we reach the culminatingpoint of the Fauna of this strange land. No less thaneleven genera of this Sub-order are entirely confined to theSub-region, while outside of it there are only five generanow in existence, two of them belonging to Africa proper,and three to the Oriental Region. The lemurs are none of them very large; they are all THE ETHIOPIAN REGION 105 arboreal animals, spending their lives retired in the forest,and, as a rule, strictly nocturnal. Though allied to themonkeys, they have none of their vivacity and intelligence;
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidgeogra, booksubjectmammals
