A checklist of African mammals.

Since the publication of Trouessart's Catalogus Mammalium in 1904-05, over thirty years have elapsed. In the meantime the continent of Africa has been increasingly explored and intensive collecting has been carried on in almost every considerable area. This has resulted in a vast increase in our knowledge of its mammalian fauna and often, unfortunately, in a multiplicity of names applied to supposedly distinct forms.

At the present time it may be said that the mammalian fauna of Africa is fairly well ascertained, and that the likelihood of many more really new genera or species being found is small. Nevertheless much revisionary work is yet to be done as adequate collections accumulate in the larger museums. As a first necessity in indicating what has been done and where further study is urgent, a complete checklist of the names applied to African mammals is here presented, intended to include all those currently regarded as valid as well as all synonyms through July 1938, so far as possible. It is hardly to be hoped that no names have been omitted from this catalogue, yet the compiler believes that what omissions may be detected are unimportant. So far as library resources have been available, the great majority of the references have been carefully checked with the originals and the citations of names are as originally given, with their type localities following each.

The area covered is the continent of Africa west of the Suez Canal, with the inclusion of Madagascar and the Mascarene islands, and the seas adjacent to the continent. Domesticated animals, unless feral, and the human races are purposely omitted, but with these exceptions the list includes all species known to have lived within historic times.

In citing the references, the title of the work is first given, followed by the volume, then a colon, and after that the page numbers and the date. The "type locality" follows the reference. Where there is no volume number the page reference is preceded by "p." Genera are listed alphabetically under their respective families, and the species alphabetically under their genera. Where the range is ascertained, it is briefly stated