454 THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF ZOOLOGY 



lace's line, passing between the small islands of Bali and Lombok, 

 then between Borneo and Celebes, and on to the south and east 

 of the Philippines. In this region are numerous serpents and a 

 number of characteristic birds, such as the peacock and the 

 argus pheasant; the tapir, rhinoceros, and Indian elephant are 

 characteristic Ungulata. Deer are present, though absent from 

 the Ethiopian fauna, and the same is true of bears. The tiger, 

 many lemurs, the gibbons, and the orang-utang are all character- 

 istic of the Oriental fauna. 



The Australian region is made up of Australia and all the 

 islands of the southern Pacific which lie to the southeast of 

 Wallace's line; the largest of these are New Guinea and New 

 Zealand. CcratoJus, one of the lungfishes, occurs in rivers 

 in Australia, and Amphibia, lizards, and snakes are numerous. 

 But in New Zealand there are very few Amphibia and lizards, 

 and no snakes, turtles, or Crocodilia. Many characteristic birds 

 are found in this region, of which we may mention merely the 

 emus and cassowaries, the lyre bird, the bird of Paradise, and 

 the cockatoos. The Mammalia are the most striking feature 

 of the Australian fauna, for the Placentalia are almost entirely 

 absent, the wild dog being one of the few exceptions; on the 

 other hand the Monotremata, Omithorhynchus and Echidna, are 

 present here only, and almost all the marsupials are confined 

 to this region. The faunae of the smaller islands of the Pacific 

 are chiefly interesting because of the almost total absence of 

 Mammalia. 



Lastly, we have the Neotropical region, which includes North 

 America, south of the Nearctic region, all of South America, 

 the West Indies, the Galapagos Islands, and the other small 

 islands in the vicinity of South America. Here we find the 

 third representative of the Dipnoi, Lepidosiren ; the electric 

 eel, Gymnotus, is another characteristic fish. The Amphibia 

 and all the large orders of Reptilia have genera here which are 

 not found in any other region. Birds are very abundant; 

 among the most striking are the humming birds, which are 

 found in the Nearctic region also, and therheas, or South Ameri- 

 can ostriches. The opossum is characteristic of the Neotropical 

 region, although found in the Nearctic as well. Many Edentata 

 are represented, such as the sloths, armadillos, and ant-eaters. 



