452 



ZOOLOGY 



Australian 

 Region 



New Zea- 

 land 



Indian elephant, tiger, orang-utan, peacock, various 

 hornbills, etc. From this region comes the original 

 type of the domestic fowl. The desert parts of north- 

 western India have an essentially Palsearctic fauna, 

 continuous with that of Persia. The limits of the 

 Oriental in the direction of Australia have been much 

 discussed, but it is universally agreed that the Philip- 

 pines, Borneo, and Java are to be included ; while New 

 Guinea, with its birds of paradise, is classed with the 

 Australian Region. 



9. The Australian Region is the most peculiar and 

 isolated, and its three principal parts, Australia, New 

 Zealand, and New Guinea, differ radically among them- 

 selves. The mammals are mainly marsupials, a very 

 primitive group including the kangaroo and a variety of 

 other types of diverse habits and appearance, one even 

 having the appearance and mode of life of a mole. The 

 egg-laying mammals (monotremes), including the duck- 

 bill and echidna, are even more archaic than the mar- 

 supials. Among the birds are the emeu, cockatoo, and 

 many others of remarkable appearance and habits. 

 The plants include the eucalpytus trees, now so widely 

 planted in California and elsewhere. 



New Zealand lacks all the characteristic Australian 

 mammals, etc., but possessed very recently the extraor- 

 dinary giant birds known as Dinornis, and still has 

 the much smaller kiwis (Apteryx). These birds are 

 wingless, and could hardly exist in a country where 

 there were many predatory animals. The species of 

 Dinornis, or moa, were hunted by the Maoris or native 

 people of New Zealand, but were exterminated before 

 the arrival of the white man. The peculiarity of New 

 Zealand is further emphasized by the existence of a re- 

 markable lizardlike reptile (Sphenodon], constituting 

 an order not found elsewhere. 



