328 THE GEOGRAPHY OF MAMMALS 



Section VII.— Final Conclusions 



Thus we see that whether we take the Mammals in 

 Geographical or in Systematic order, we arrive at nearly 

 the same result — namely, that the best Primary Geogra- 

 phical Divisions of the earth are six in number. Of these 

 the Australian Region (Neogala), in which the Mammal- 

 fauna is pre-eminently Marsupial, and embraces the whole 

 Order of Monotremes, is by far the most distinct. It is, 

 however, also easy to separate the Neotropical Region 

 (Notog&a), with its one family of Marsupials and numerous 

 Edentates. The remaining Regions {Arctogtea), may be 

 grouped together, but are still separable — on more slender 

 grounds, it is true, into four divisions — the Ethiopian 

 Region remarkable for its abundant Ungulates, the Giraffe, 

 and the Hippopotamuses, the Oriental known by its Orangs, 

 Gibbons, and Tapir, and the Palsearctic and Nearctic, 

 which, no doubt, present many points of similarity as 

 regards their Mammal-faunas, but may nevertheless be 

 properly kept apart. The Nearctic Region, as has been 

 shown above, has been overrun by an inroad from the 

 northern portion of the Old World, but has a strongly 

 developed under-stratum of endemic forms mixed up with 

 some Neotropical types, which are utterly foreign to the 

 Palaearctic Region. 



