VON Jhering.- — Oil the Ancient Connections of N.Z. 435 



by me, and of many of the Laccrtidce on the coast of Eio 

 Grande do Sul. The species of Liolamus, Saccodeira, and 

 Urostrophus which I found in the Eio Grande do Sul belong to 

 genera represented chiefly in Chile and Patagonia. Of Pata- 

 gonian shrubs and trees many are found in the south of Eio 

 Grande do Sul. 



In comparing the old fauna of Archiplata with that of New 

 Zealand and Australia many points of contact are found. The 

 perception that the species of Unio from New Zealand and 

 many adjoining countries have their near allies only in Chile 

 and South Brazil formed for me the starting-point for the 

 pursuit of the questions here dealt with. I hope that, through 

 the kind aid of Professor Hutton and other scientists in New 

 Zealand and Australia, I shall be enabled to study this ques- 

 tion thoroughly, especially with regard to the animals. Giin- 

 ther also unites New Zealand with Chile and Patagonia into 

 one region for the fresh-water fishes. The Parastacidce show 

 the same, and many botanical facts point to a former land- 

 communication between these countries. 



Before we enter further on this subject we must try to 

 form an idea of the geology of Archiplata. Eelying on the dis- 

 tribution of the Jurassic strata in the x\ndes. Professor Hutton 

 concludes that the whole of this area has been submerged by 

 the sea during the Jurassic period. No doubt a deep bay 

 occupied then the place of the Andes, but on its sides low- 

 lying land might exist. In the old Archiplata fauna we meet 

 with Mollusca and Crustacea whose genera are already found 

 directly, or in nearly allied forms, in the Jurassic. Besides 

 the very old character of this fauna, which was in existence 

 before the upheaval of the Andes, there is geological evidence 

 to show that parts of Archiplata belong to a very old con- 

 tinent. Outside the Andes the Jura formation has been found 

 neither in La Plata nor in Brazil. In Eio Grande do Sul only 

 the Carboniferous formation has been found. Many times it 

 has been taken for a younger formation, but I have seen my- 

 self a beautiful trunk of Leindodendron in the mines of 

 Jeronymo. Liais" says that it has been described by 

 Carruthers as Flemingites pedroanus, and that, besides it, 

 Nocggerathia, Glosso-ptcris, Odontopteris, and Calamites are 

 found. We leave it undecided whether this flora belongs to 

 the Carboniferous or, as Liais thinks, to the Trias ; at all 

 events, it proves that land with a rich flora existed here at 

 the beginning of the Mesozoic era. 



The Cretaceous formation is not known in this district out- 

 side the Andes, but is well developed between Pernambuco 

 and the Amazon, and has been studied by White in a most 



* Liais, " Climats, G^ologie, Faune du Bresil," Paris (1872), pp. 201, 2. 



