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24 chapters
Preface.
Preface.
The present work is an attempt to collect and summarize the existing information on the Distribution of Land Animals; and to explain the more remarkable and interesting of the facts, by means of established laws of physical and organic change. The main idea, which is here worked out in some detail for the whole earth, was stated sixteen years ago in the concluding pages of a paper on the "Zoological Geography of the Malay Archipelago," which appeared in the Journal of Proceedings of the Linnean
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I. Introductory
I. Introductory
INTRODUCTORY. It is a fact within the experience of most persons, that the various species of animals are not uniformly dispersed over the surface of the country. If we have a tolerable acquaintance with any district, be it a parish, a county, or a larger extent of territory, we soon become aware that each well-marked portion of it has some peculiarities in its animal productions. If we want to find certain birds or certain insects, we have not only to choose the right season but to go to the ri
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II. The means of Dispersal and the Migrations of Animals
II. The means of Dispersal and the Migrations of Animals
THE MEANS OF DISPERSAL AND THE MIGRATIONS OF ANIMALS. All animals are capable of multiplying so rapidly, that if a single pair were placed in a continent with abundance of food and no enemies, they might fully stock it in a very short time. Thus, a bird which produces ten pairs of young during its lifetime (and this is far below the fertility of many birds) will, if we take its life at five years, increase to a hundred millions in about forty years, a number sufficient to stock a large country.
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III. Distribution as Affected by the Conditions and Changes of the Earth's Surface
III. Distribution as Affected by the Conditions and Changes of the Earth's Surface
DISTRIBUTION AS AFFECTED BY THE CONDITIONS AND CHANGES OF THE EARTH'S SURFACE. The distribution of animals over the earth's surface, is evidently dependent in great measure upon those grand and important characteristics of our globe, the study of which is termed physical geography. The proportion of land and water; the outlines and distribution of continents; the depth of seas and oceans; the position of islands; the height, direction, and continuity of mountain chains; the position and extent o
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IV. On Zoological Regions
IV. On Zoological Regions
ON ZOOLOGICAL REGIONS. To the older school of Naturalists the native country of an animal was of little importance, except in as far as climates differed. Animals were supposed to be specially adapted to live in certain zones or under certain physical conditions, and it was hardly recognised that apart from these conditions there was any influence in locality which could materially affect them. It was believed that, while the animals of tropical, temperate, and arctic climates, essentially diffe
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V. Classification as Affecting the Study of Geographical Distribution
V. Classification as Affecting the Study of Geographical Distribution
CLASSIFICATION AS AFFECTING THE STUDY OF GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. A little consideration will convince us, that no inquiry into the causes and laws which determine the geographical distribution of animals or plants can lead to satisfactory results, unless we have a tolerably accurate knowledge of the affinities of the several species, genera, and families to each other; in other words, we require a natural classification to work upon. Let us, for example, take three animals— a , b , and c —whi
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VI. The Extinct Mammalia of the Old World
VI. The Extinct Mammalia of the Old World
THE EXTINCT MAMMALIA OF THE OLD WORLD. Although it may seem somewhat out of place to begin the systematic treatment of our subject with extinct rather than with living animals, it is necessary to do so in order that we may see the meaning and trace the causes of the existing distribution of animal forms. It is true, that the animals found fossil in a country are very generally allied to those which still inhabit it; but this is by no means universally the case. If it were, the attempt to elucida
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VII. Extinct Mammalia of the New World
VII. Extinct Mammalia of the New World
EXTINCT MAMMALIA OF THE NEW WORLD. The discoveries of very rich deposits of mammalian remains in various parts of the United States have thrown great light on the relations of the faunas of very distant regions. North America now makes a near approach to Europe in the number and variety of its extinct mammalia, and in no part of the world have such perfect specimens been discovered. In what are called the "Mauvaises terres" of Nebraska (the dried-up mud of an ancient lake), thousands of entire c
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VIII. Various Extinct Animals
VIII. Various Extinct Animals
VARIOUS EXTINCT ANIMALS;—AND ON THE ANTIQUITY OF THE GENERA OF INSECTS AND LAND MOLLUSCA. EXTINCT MAMMALIA OF AUSTRALIA. These have all been obtained from caves and late Tertiary or Post-Tertiary deposits, and consist of a large number of extinct forms, some of gigantic size, but all marsupials and allied to the existing fauna. There are numerous forms of kangaroos, some larger than any living species; and among these are two genera, Protemnodon and Sthenurus , which Professor Garrod has lately
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IX. The Order of Succession of the Regions
IX. The Order of Succession of the Regions
THE ORDER OF SUCCESSION OF THE REGIONS.—COSMOPOLITAN GROUPS OF ANIMALS.—TABLES OF DISTRIBUTION. Having discussed, in our First Part, such general and preliminary matters as are necessary to a proper comprehension of our subject; and having made ourselves acquainted, in our Second Part, with the most important results of Palæontology, we now come to our more immediate subject, which we propose to treat first under its geographical aspect. Taking each of our six regions in succession, we shall poi
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X. The Palæarctic Region
X. The Palæarctic Region
THE PALÆARCTIC REGION. This region is of immense extent, comprising all the temperate portions of the great eastern continents. It thus extends from the Azores and Canary Islands on the west to Japan on the east, a distance not far short of half the circumference of the globe. Yet so great is the zoological unity of this vast tract, that the majority of the genera of animals in countries so far removed as Great Britain and Northern Japan are identical. Throughout its northern half the animal pro
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XI. The Ethiopian Region
XI. The Ethiopian Region
THE ETHIOPIAN REGION. This is one of the best defined of the great zoological regions, consisting of tropical and South Africa, to which must be added tropical Arabia, Madagascar, and a few other islands, all popularly known as African. Some naturalists would extend the region northwards to the Atlas Mountains and include the whole of the Sahara; but the animal life of the northern part of that great desert seems more akin to the Palæarctic fauna of North Africa. The Sahara is really a debatable
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XII. The Oriental Region
XII. The Oriental Region
THE ORIENTAL REGION. This region is of comparatively small extent, but it has a very diversified surface, and is proportionately very rich. The deserts on the north-west of India are the debatable land that separates it from the Palæarctic and Ethiopian regions. The great triangular plateau which forms the peninsula of India is the poorest portion of the region, owing in part to its arid climate and in part to its isolated position; for there can be little doubt that in the later Tertiary period
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XIII. The Australian Region
XIII. The Australian Region
THE AUSTRALIAN REGION. The Australian is the great insular region of the earth. As a whole it is one of the best marked, and has even been considered to be equal in zoological value to all the rest of the globe; but its separate portions are very heterogeneous, and their limits sometimes ill-defined. Its central and most important masses consist of Australia and New Guinea, in which the main features of the region are fully developed. To the north-west it extends to Celebes, in which a large pro
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XIV. The Neotropical Region
XIV. The Neotropical Region
THE NEOTROPICAL REGION. This region, comprehending not only South America but Tropical North America and the Antilles, may be compared as to extent with the Ethiopian region; but it is distinguished from all the other great zoological divisions of the globe, by the small proportion of its surface occupied by deserts, by the large proportion of its lowlands, and by the altogether unequalled extent and luxuriance of its tropical forests. It further possesses a grand mountain range, rivalling the H
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XV. The Nearctic Region
XV. The Nearctic Region
THE NEARCTIC REGION. This region consists almost wholly of Temperate North America as defined by physical geographers. In area it is about equal to the Neotropical region. It possesses a vast mountain range traversing its entire length from north to south, comparable with, and in fact a continuation of, the Andes,—and a smaller range near the east coast, equally comparable with the mountains of Brazil and Guiana. These mountains supply its great river-system of the Mississippi, second only to th
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XVI. Summary of the Past Changes and General Relations of the Several Regions.
XVI. Summary of the Past Changes and General Relations of the Several Regions.
SUMMARY OF THE PAST CHANGES AND GENERAL RELATIONS OF THE SEVERAL REGIONS. Having now closed our survey of the animal life of the whole earth—a survey which has necessarily been encumbered with a multiplicity of detail—we proceed to summarize the general conclusions at which we have arrived, with regard to the past history and mutual relations of the great regions into which we have divided the land surface of the globe. All the palæontological, no less than the geological and physical evidence,
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XVII. The Distribution of the Families and Genera of Mammalia.
XVII. The Distribution of the Families and Genera of Mammalia.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE FAMILIES AND GENERA OF MAMMALIA. Order I.—PRIMATES. Family 1.—SIMIIDÆ. (4 Genera, 12 Species). The Simiidæ, or Anthropoid Apes, comprehend those forms of the monkey-tribe which, in general organization, approach nearest to man. They inhabit the tropics of the Old World, and are most abundant near the equator; but they are limited to certain districts, being quite unknown in eastern and southern Africa, and the whole peninsula of Hindostan. The genus Troglodytes (or Mimete
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XVIII. The Distribution of the Families and Genera of Birds.
XVIII. The Distribution of the Families and Genera of Birds.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE FAMILIES AND GENERA OF BIRDS. Order I.—PASSERES. Family 1.—TURDIDÆ. (21 Genera, 205 Species.) The extensive and familiar group of Thrushes ranges over every region and sub-region, except New Zealand. It abounds most in the North Temperate regions, and has its least development in the Australian region. Thrushes are among the most perfectly organized of birds, and it is to this cause, perhaps, as well as to their omnivorous diet, that they have been enabled to establish th
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XIX. The Distribution of the Families and Genera of Reptiles and Amphibia.
XIX. The Distribution of the Families and Genera of Reptiles and Amphibia.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE FAMILIES AND GENERA OF REPTILES AND AMPHIBIA. REPTILIA. Order I.—OPHIDIA. Family 1.—TYPHLOPIDÆ.—(4 Genera, 70 Species.) The Typhlopidæ, or Blind Burrowing Snakes, are widely scattered over the warmer regions of the earth, but are most abundant in the Oriental and Australian regions, and least so in the Neotropical. They are absent from the Nearctic region; and in the Palæarctic are found only in South-eastern Europe and Japan. The most extensive genus is Typhlops , compri
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XX. The Distribution of the Families of Fishes, with the Range of such Genera as inhabit Fresh Water.
XX. The Distribution of the Families of Fishes, with the Range of such Genera as inhabit Fresh Water.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE FAMILIES OF FISHES, WITH THE RANGE OF SUCH GENERA AS INHABIT FRESH WATER. Sub-class I.—TELEOSTEI. Order I.—ACANTHOPTERYGII. Family 1.—GASTEROSTEIDÆ. (1 Genus, 11 Species.) "Fresh-water or marine scaleless fishes, with elongate compressed bodies and with isolated spines before the dorsal fin." Distribution. —Palæarctic and Nearctic regions. The species of Gasterosteus , commonly called Sticklebacks, are found in rivers, lakes, estuaries, and seas, as far south as Italy and
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XXI. The Distribution of some of the more Important Families and Genera of Insects.
XXI. The Distribution of some of the more Important Families and Genera of Insects.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT FAMILIES AND GENERA OF INSECTS. Although insects are, for the most part, truly terrestrial animals, and illustrate in a very striking manner the characteristic phenomena of distribution, it is impossible here to treat of them in much detail. This arises chiefly from their excessive numbers, but also from the minuteness and obscurity of many of the groups, and our imperfect knowledge of all but the European species. The number of described species of
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XXII. An Outline of the Geographical Distribution of Mollusca.
XXII. An Outline of the Geographical Distribution of Mollusca.
AN OUTLINE OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF MOLLUSCA. The Mollusca being for the most part marine, it does not enter into the plan of this work to go into much detail as to their distribution. The orders and families will, however, be passed briefly in review, and all terrestrial and fresh-water groups discussed in somewhat more detail; with the object of showing how far their distribution accords with that of the higher animals, and to what extent the anomalies they present can be explained
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XXIII. Summary of the Distribution, and Lines of Migration, of the Several Classes of Animals.
XXIII. Summary of the Distribution, and Lines of Migration, of the Several Classes of Animals.
SUMMARY OF THE DISTRIBUTION, AND LINES OF MIGRATION, OF THE SEVERAL CLASSES OF ANIMALS. Having already given summaries of the distribution of the several orders, and of some of the classes of land animals, we propose here to make a few general remarks on the special phenomena presented by the more important groups, and to indicate where possible, the general lines of migration by which they have become dispersed over wide areas. Mammalia. This class is very important, and its past history is muc
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