SPITSBERGEN fii i 



The cycads are at present a purely tropical group. An in- 

 teresting point is that the same cycads used to live in this 

 country at the same time as in Spitsbergen — ^namely, the 

 Jurassic period — in fact, they had a world-wide distribution 

 then. The cycads also were most of them tree-like, as are their 

 modern representatives. 



All this evidence of conditions at such a comparatively 

 short distance from the pole so much more favourable than at 

 present has been the origin of many interesting theories. Some 

 authorities contend that there has been a shifting of the poles 

 since the Tertiary period ; others oppose this view. There is, 

 however, at present no satisfactory explanation, but speculation 

 is rife, as it always is in such vital and fundamental questions. 

 Many of the fossils are not so much important from the 

 theoretical questions to which they give origin as from their 

 own intrinsic interest. An example of this is the Labyrintho- 

 dont, which has been known for some time, but which has only 

 just been brought away from the country by the recent Oxford 

 University Expedition. This fossil is interesting in that it is 

 a very early example of a vertebrate, having existed during the 

 Triassic period. When investigated more fully, it will probably 

 throw light on the question of the evolution of the Vertebrata. 

 When the present-day conditions are examined, other 

 questions equally absorbing are encountered. These are 

 mainly connected with the life, both animal and plant, of the 

 archipelago. 



Owing to the climate the active period for life in the country 

 is necessarily limited, and consists of the summer months — 

 June, July, and August. During the winter, however, active 

 manifestations of life are not entirely lacking, although, owing 

 to the deep snow-covering, they are limited to animals. The 

 animals which are found in the winter are the reindeer, Arctic 

 fox, and Polar bear, while the ptarmigan is also a winter resident. 

 Of these the reindeer and ptarmigan subsist on the vegetation 

 beneath the snow. The reindeer, with its snow-scraper antlers, 

 is able to clear a way to the succulent mosses and lichens, and 

 thus can eke out a precarious livelihood. The Arctic fox and 

 Polar bear, being carnivorous, prey on the other animals. ^ The 

 fox usually prefers ptarmigan ; the bear hunts chiefly in the 

 sea, seals and other marine creatures forming its main diet. 



As mentioned above, the first sign of the approaching 

 summer is the rise in temperature commencing in May or even 

 in the latter part of April. The rise continues throughout 

 May, so that by June the melting-point of the snow is reached. 

 A thaw thereupon commences, and this is continuous during 

 the summer. As soon as, or before, the snow melts, the birds 

 begin to arrive from the south. Nesting is started on any 



