14 Mcrriam — (Jcor/rapliic I)lMrU>atioii of Life. 



Austroriparian or Louisianian Dividon. 

 (South Atlantic and Gulf States.) 



Latreille, as early as 1817, called attention to the ditference in 

 the insect fauna of Carolina and Georo;ia from that of Pennsyl- 

 vania and New York, and in his division oi the earth into cir- 

 cumpolar zones ran the boundary line Ijetween these faunas at 

 latitude 36°. The difference in the flora of the South Atlantic 

 and Gulf States from that of the Northern States was recognized ])y 

 the Danish Itotanist Schouw as early as 1822 in the ' Realm of Mag- 

 nolias, or Purshh Realm.,'' which he then projioscd for the region 

 between the parallels of 30° and 36° north latitude. Thirty- 

 four years later (in 1856) the northern l)Oundary of the same 

 area was run I:)}' America's greatest botanist, Dr. Asa Gray, along 

 the parallel of 36° 30', only half a degree from Schouw 's line. 

 The first zoologist to i^^jcognize this region was the elder Binney, 

 who died in 1847. His })Osthumous work on Terrestrial Air- 

 Breatliiny Mollusks, published in 1851, describes it under the name 

 ' Tertiary Region of the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf of Mexico.'' The 

 elder Agassiz recognized it in 1854 as one of his seven primary 

 regions, naming it tlie Louisianian Fauna. Later writers, except 

 Cope, have considered it a subdivision of the Eastern Forest 

 region. Cope restored it to primary rank in 1873 and named it 

 the Austroriparian Region. 



The extent to which this region has been recognized will ap- 

 pear from the following table : 



Dntr Author Name given to region Based on Hank 



1817 Latreille Supertropical Climate.. . Insects 1 



1822 Schouw Realm of Magnolias. . . . Plants 1 



1836 Meyen Subtropical Zone Plants 1 



1837 Mai-tius Mississippi-Floridian Plants 1 



Realm. 



1838 Berghaus Realm of Magnolias . . Plants 1 



1851 Binney (A.) . . . Tertiary Region of At- Mollusks 2 



lantic and Gulf coasts. 



1853 Schmarda .... ^Middle American Realm. Animals 1 



1854 Agassiz Louisianian Fauna Animals 3 



1856 Gray Southern States Plants 1 



1859 Le Conte Southern Province Insects 2 



1859 Cooper Carolinian and INIissis- Forests 2 



sippian. 



1863 Binney (W.G.) Southern Region Mollusks 2 



1866 Baird Southern Subdivision. . . Birds 2 



1866 Verrill Louisianian Fauna Birds 2 



1871 Allen Louisianian Fauna Birds 3 



