56 
ORIGIN OF LIFE IN AMERICA 
name of Rangifer terraenovae. All reindeer are expert 
swimmers, yet the Newfoundland reindeer or caribou has 
never been known to cross over to the mainland. The follow¬ 
ing other gpecies of mammals are all peculiar to Newfound¬ 
land. The Newfoundland musk rat (Fiber obscurus), the 
Newfoundland vole (Microtus terraenovae), the Newfound¬ 
land arctic hare (Lepus bangsi), the Newfoundland lynx 
(Lynx subsolanus), the Newfoundland fox (Vulpes deletrix), 
the Newfoundland otter (Lutra degener), the Newfoundland 
marten (Mustela atrata). A bear and a wolf are also said to 
occur. 
The fauna of Newfoundland, moreover, is characterised by 
the remarkable absence of all such mammals which we might 
reasonably expect to have come from Asia in comparatively 
recent geological times, such as the moose, wapiti deer, brown 
bear and many smaller species. The island does not seem 
to have been affected by the great stream of new-comers which 
poured into the country and reached other parts of eastern 
America, such as Nova Scotia. 
In speaking of the present land bird fauna of Nova Scotia, 
Dr. Trotter argues that it was derived from two faunal 
stocks, a more primitive boreal one which occupied the region 
from remote times, and a later transition fauna which in¬ 
vaded the peninsula since the re-elevation of the previously 
sunken isthmus. He speaks of this as a “ venturesome state¬ 
ment,” yet he suggests that many boreal types belonging 
to the genera Pinicola, Carpodacus, Loxia, Spinus, Sitta, 
Regulus, Certhia and Parus may have occupied Nova Scotia 
even during the Glacial Epoch, since glaciers do not preclude 
forest growth, while food must have been abundant during 
the short breeding season.* 
It has been my intention in this chapter to briefly direct 
attention to the extreme north-east as one of the salient 
bio-geographical features of the American continent. More 
than fifty years ago Professor L. Agassiz spoke of “ the 
zoological island of New England,” which he described as 
encircled by a uniform combination of fresh-water animals, 
* Trotter, Spencer, “ Land Bird Fauna of North-Eastern America,” 
p. 226 . 
