THE 



GEOGRAPHY OF MAMMALS 



CHAPTER I 

 INTRODUCTION 



(Plate I., p. 1G) 



It has long been evident to naturalists that the ordinary 

 political divisions of the earth's surface do not corre- 

 spond with those based on the geographical distribution 

 of animal life. Europe, for instance, the most important 

 of all the continents politically speaking, is for zoological 

 geographers, as well as for physical, but a small fragment 

 of Asia. Again, the strip of Africa which borders the 

 Mediterranean and extends to the Sahara agrees closely, 

 as regards its animal life, with Europe, and is altogether 

 different from the great mass of the African continent. 

 Proceeding to America we find that physical geographers, 

 as well as political, divide the two great masses ot the New 

 World at Panama. But those who study distribution have 

 ascertained that Central America and Southern Mexico 

 belong zoologically to South America, and they are con- 

 sequently obliged to place the line of demarcation much 

 further north. 



Let us, therefore, dismiss from our minds for the 

 moment the ordinary notions of both physical and political 



