MALAGASY SUBREGION. In zoogeog raphy. a subdivision of the Paleotropieal or Ethi opian Region, embracing Madagascar and the Comoro, Seychelle, :Mascarene, and neighboring islands. This insular subregion is so different in its fauna from the African continent, and has so much that is exclusive, that some zoologists have placed it in the first instead of the second rank of zoogeographical divisions. Haeekel. in deed, regarded it, theoretically, as the relic of a former hypothetical continent, or archipelago, Lemuria (q.v.), which extended eastward into the Malayan islands. Its extent was supposed to be indicated by the present distribution of the lemur family, but more recent knowledge in regard to the past distribution of this family, derived from fossil remains, shows that the hypothesis is un tenable. This theory indicates, however, the most prominent characteristic of the fauna of Mada gascar, which is that it is the headquarters of the lemur tribe. Nearly all the other lemurs known (except the African galago) are Malayan, and this fact, together with various other coinci dences, leads to the conclusion that there was once some intercommunication. The isolation of Madagascar must, however. have occurred very long ago, even as time is reckoned in paleontol ogy. for the differences between it and Africa are almost as great as those between it and the Orient. Very deep water separates it from Africa, and there could have been little if any interchange of terrestrial life since a very remote period. Its mammalian fauna is rich in lemurs and in sectivores—all small animals of ancient types. The only ungulate is a peculiar species of river hog, for none of the antelopes and the like of Africa live there. There are very few and small rodents. and none of the great carnivores: the beasts of prey are altogether of the civet family, the largest of which is the ferocious fossa (q.v.), which is about twice the size of a house-cat. In every case the species is peculiar to the island. and in most eases the genus also. Birds are extremely numerous, and on the whole are Ethi opian in character; but many genera and species are wholly restricted to this subregion. Here,
too. was the home of many recently extinct birds, such as the epiornis, a relic of an ancient Noto glean tribe, the dodo, solitaire, and so on. (See BIRD, FOSSIL; and EXTINCT ANIMALS.) TIne reptiles present many purely local forms and curious resemblances to the faunae of other re gions. Of the great colubrine family of snakes, none is of the African type, nor is there a viper; on the contrary, several genera are the same as or similar to those of America. The boas, so char acteristic of South America. are represented by Malagasy species, and also the tree-snakes (Den drophithe) ; while several families mainly Orien tal are represented here (e.g. see LANGAIIA). A similar mixture of types may be found among Malagasy lizards and chelonians—the latter in cluding in the Islands the once nu merous and very ancient giant tortoises. (See EXTINCT ANIMALS.) No other part of the world seems to have possessed, when first investigated by Europeans. so many senescent species, most of which have succumbed to civilization. The am phibian fauna of Madagascar has only recently been studied and has been found equally remark able with the rest. so that Gadow makes it one of the four primary subdivisions of the Southern Hemisphere of the Old World (his `Notogfea'; consult Amphibia and Reptiles, London, 1901). There is a mixture of African and Indian forms. The island differs from Africa by the absence of Apoda (limbless batrachians). :glossa (tongue less frogs), and Bufonithe (toads). It differs from the Oriental Region in similar absences of certain groups, and has several exclusive forms of its own. Fresh-water fishes and the inverte brate life are not well known. but seem to bear out the former deduction that Madagascar has a fauna which has been very long isolated, and was originally derived from sources which con tributed to both Oriental and Ethiopian re gions. See DISTRIBUTION OF- ANIMALS, and the accompanying maps.