THE AUSTRALIAN REGION 



23 



shall presently see, has also representatives in the Papuan 

 Sub-region. It inhabits the scrubs throughout the eastern 

 districts of Australia, and is likewise occasionally found as 

 far along the southern coast as Western Australia. In 

 Tasmania a slightly different species (Echidna setosa) with 



Fig. 1.— The Duck-bill. 

 ( Ornithorkynchus anatinus). 



longer fur, almost concealing the spines (by some authors 

 considered to be only a geographical race or sub-species of 

 the typical form), is met with. 



After the Monotremes, the most important group of 

 mammals, and that which constitutes by far the most 

 prevalent feature of Australian mammal-life, is the great 



