PROBLEMS OF DISTRIBUTION AND THEIR SOLUTION. 149 



have sprung, occurs widespread in this region. The peacocks, argus 

 pheasants, and fire-backed pheasants, are also typical denizens of the 

 Oriental province, and may fitly close the list of its bird inhabitants. 



The reptiles of the Indian region are numerous, but there are 

 only some three small families of snakes which are peculiar and 

 limited to the region. The reptile population, apart from its speci- 

 fically distinct character, is varied enough, however. It includes a 

 whole host of snakes ; amongst lizards it numbers the water-lizards 

 (or Varanidce\ the skinks, the geckos, and the iguanas {Igitanidce}. 

 The crocodiles are numerous, and fresh-water tortoises, amongst 

 other genera, abound. The tree frogs and true-frogs are well repre- 

 sented, and in its fresh-water fishes this region is peculiar. The 

 Oriental province, to sum up, possesses at least twelve families of 

 vertebrates peculiar to itself. Of the 118 genera of quadrupeds, 54 

 are confined to this province ; and whilst 342 genera of land birds 

 inhabit the region, 165 are absolutely confined to it. There are 

 some four sub-regions included in the Oriental region. These do 

 not demand special mention here, but it may be remarked that the 

 Malayan sub-region including the Eastern Peninsula, Borneo, 

 Sumatra, Java, and the Philippines is to be accounted the most 

 typical area of the Oriental region. It is in the Malayan sub-region 

 that we see the features of the Oriental province in their most typical 

 development in most varied array. 



Selecting as our fourth region the Australian province, the 

 striking characters of this region have already been commented 

 upon. Crossing "Wallace's line," we enter upon a biological 

 territory marked by more peculiar features and by more divergent 

 lines than those which separate the flora and fauna of any other two 

 regions from one another. In Australia and New Guinea as was to 

 be expected from the fact of these islands presenting the chief areas 

 of the region the specialised character of its animals and plants 

 is best seen. In Celebes this character is still preserved, although 

 the denizens of that island do not present the special features of 

 Australia, whilst the influence of Oriental migrations is clearly 

 traceable. Of the life of New Zealand, which along with Polynesia 

 falls within the Australian region, a more pronounced opinion may 

 be expressed. The animals and plants of the New Zealand islands 

 are in many respects so peculiar that, as we have seen, it has been 

 proposed to include these areas in a special region. But, as we shall 

 hereafter note, there exist other considerations, which, whilst ex- 

 planatory of the divergence of New Zealand from the Australian 

 types, nevertheless show its fundamental alliance therewith. Thus 

 New Zealand comes, logically enough, to form a part of the Austra- 

 lian region. 



Primarily, then, in the Australian region we find at once 



