[Proc. Koy. Soc. Victoria, 28 (N.S.), Pabt I., 1915J. 



Art. VI I J. — On the Faunal Subregions of Australia. 



By THOMAS G. SLOAN E. 



(Communicated by J. A. Kershaw). 



[Head July 8th, 1915], 



" A considerable amount of ingenuity has been expended in 

 trying to solve the interesting problem of the distribution of 

 southern faunas. * * * * * No doubt our knowledge will increase, 

 but it seems hardly possible to make any more theories." 



The quotation above from Captain Hutton's erudite paper, " Theo- 

 retical Explanations of the Distribution of Southern Faunas," pub- 

 lished in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South 

 Wales, 1896, epitomises the position of our present subject in its 

 general bearings as left by Hutton. My intention is only 

 to deal with the zoogeographic sub-regions and districts of the 

 continent of Australia, and, for this purpose, it is only necessary 

 to refer to two previous essays, viz., Professor R. Tate's address 

 " On the Influence of Physiographic Changes in the Distribution of 

 Life in Australia." published in the " Report of the Australasian 

 Association for the Advancement of Science," 1888; and Professor 

 W. Baldwin Spencer's "Summary of the Zoological, Botanical and 

 Geological Results," embodied in the " Report on the Work of the 

 Horn Scientific Expedition," 189G. 



For zoologists Spencer's splendid summary is indispensable, while 

 the ability shown in Tate's work makes it of first-class importance. 



To make clear my point of view towards this much-discussed sub- 

 ject, and to establish a meeting-ground for my readers and myself, 

 the following definitions of my position in regard to some funda- 

 mental tenets of zoogeography are offered. 



1. Permanence of continents. Darwin's position was that the 

 great continents had maintained approximately their present posi- 

 tions since early geological times. Wallace also held strongly the 

 same view. But when we admit the union of Australia with an 

 Antarctic continent, probably in the Miocene, the idea of any 

 necessary permanence for the present continents beyond the middle 

 of the Tertiary Era must be given up. 



