188 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS. 



400. The influence of climate, in the colder regions, acts 

 merely to induce a greater uniformity in the species of 

 animals. Thus the same animals inhabit the northern polar 

 regions of the three continents. The polar bear is the same 

 in Europe, Asia, and America, and so are also a great many 

 birds. In the temperate regions, on the contrary, the 

 species differ on each of the continents, but they still pre- 

 serve the same general features. The types are the same, 

 but they are represented by quite different species. In 

 consequence of these general resemblances, the first colo- 

 nists of New England erroneously applied the names of 

 European species to American animals. Similar differences 

 are observed in distant regions of the same continent, within 

 the same parallels of latitude. The animals of Oregon and 

 of California are not the same as those of New England. 

 The difference, in certain respects, is even greater than 

 between the animals of New England and Europe. In like 

 manner, the animals of temperate Asia differ more from those 

 of Europe than they do from those of America. 



401. Under the torrid zone, the Animal Kingdom, as well 

 as the Vegetable, attains its highest development. The ani- 

 mals of the tropics are not only different from those of the 

 temperate zone, but, moreover, they present the greatest 

 variety among themselves. The most gracefully propor- 

 tioned forms are found by the side of the most grotesque, 

 decked with every combination of brilliant coloring. At the 

 same time, the contrast between the animals of different con- 

 tinents is more marked ; and, in many respects, the animals 

 of the different tropical faunas differ not less from each other 

 than from those of the temperate or frozen zones. Thus, 

 the fauna of Brazil varies as much from that of Central 

 Africa as from that of the United States. 



402. This diversity upon different continents cannot de- 

 pend simply on any influence of the climate of the tropics 



