506 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 



577. Faunal Divisions of the Earth. — On the basis of the distribution 

 of animal types the world has been divided into a number of different 

 regions, those originally proposed by Sclater being most widely accepted 

 (Fig. 310). These involve only land distribution and are based to a 

 greater extent upon the distribution of the higher vertebrates than upon 

 that of any other group. According to this plan the earth is divided into 

 six regions. The first is the Australian, which includes Australia, 

 New Zealand, part of the East Indies, and the South Pacific islands. 

 The second, or Neotropical, includes South and Central America and 

 part of Mexico, with the West Indies. The third, or Ethiopian, includes 

 Africa south of the northern boundary of the Sahara, Arabia, and 

 Madagascar. The island of Madagascar is in many respects quite dif- 

 ferent from the rest of this region and is sometimes called the Malagasy 

 subregion. The fourth, or Oriental, includes Asia south of the Himalaya 

 Mountains and west to the Persian Gulf, southern China, and a large 

 part of the Malay Archipelago, including the Philippines, Borneo, and 

 Java. The fifth, or Palearctic, includes Europe, that part of Asia 

 north of the Himalaya Mountains, and Africa to the Sahara. The 

 sixth, or Nearctic, includes North America south into Mexico. 



Of the different regions the Australian is the most distinct. Here are 

 found all the monotremes and most of the marsupials among the mam- 

 mals and such characteristic birds as the birds of paradise, the honey- 

 suckers, lyre birds, brush turkeys, cassowaries, emus, and, in New 

 Zealand, the kiwi. Here are also the Sphenodon, peculiar tortoises, and 

 the Australian lungfish. 



In the Neotropical region are found the opossums, which are mar- 

 supials; many peculiar edentates, including sloths, armadillos, and ant- 

 eaters; the American monkeys, marmosets, and vampire bats. There 

 are also many peculiar birds, among the most remarkable of which are 

 the toucans, the hoatzin, curassows, guans, and the rhea, or American 

 ostrich. There are certain peculiar snakes, including the anacondas, 

 and also electric eels. 



In the Ethiopian region are the gorilla, the chimpanzees, the broad- 

 nosed monkeys, the lion, the African elephant, rhinoceroses, hippopota- 

 muses, the zebras, and many antelopes but no bears or any deer. Among 

 the birds are the African ostrich, guinea fowls, and the secretary bird. 

 Characteristic types of lungfishes are found here. There are no cray- 

 fishes. In Madagascar are found some lemurs and the flying foxes; the 

 island lacks the rodents characteristic of Africa and once possessed a 

 gigantic extinct bird, the aepyornis, which is not known to have occurred 

 elsewhere. 



In the Oriental region are found the orang-utan, gibbons, the ma- 

 caques, the tiger, peculiar lemurs, some antelopes, the Indian elephant, 

 the Malayan tapir, and rhinoceroses differing from those occurring in 



