56 OEIGIN OF LIFE IN AMERICA 



name of Eangifer terraenovae. All reindeer are expert 

 swimmers, yet the Newfoundland reindeer or caribou has 

 never been known to cross over to the mainland. The follow- 

 ing other gpecies of mammals are all peculiar to Newfound- 

 land. The Newfoundland musk rat (Fiber obscurus), the 

 Newfoundland vole (Microtus terraenovae), the Newfound- 

 land arctic hare (Lepus bangsi), the Newfoundland lynx 

 (Lynx subsolanus), the Newfoundland fox (Vulpes deletrix), 

 the Newfoundland otter (Lutra degener), the Newfoundland 

 marten (Mustela atrata). A bear and a wolf are also said to 

 occur. 



The fauna of Newfoundland, moreover, is characterised by 

 the remarkable absence of all such mammals which we might 

 reasonably expect to have come from Asia in comparatively 

 recent geological times, such as the moose, wapiti deer, brown 

 bear and many smaller species. The island does not seem 

 to have been affected by the great stream of new-comers which 

 poured into the country and reached other parts of eastern 

 America, such as Nova Scotia. 



In speaking of the present land bird fauna of Nova Scotia, 

 Dr. Trotter argues that it was derived from two faunal 

 stocks, a more primitive boreal one which occupied the region 

 from remote times, and a later transition fauna which in- 

 vaded the peninsula since the re- elevation of the previously 

 sunken isthmus. He speaks of this as a " venturesome state- 

 ment," yet he suggests that many boreal types belonging 

 to the genera Pinicola, Carpodacus, Loxia, Spinus, Sitta, 

 Eegulus, Certhia and Parus may have occupied Nova Scotia 

 even during the Glacial Epoch, since glaciers do not preclude 

 forest growth, while food must have been abundant during 

 the short breeding season.* 



It has been my intention in this chapter to briefly direct 

 attention to the extreme north-east as one of the salient 

 bio -geographical features of the American continent. More 

 than fifty years ago Professor L. Agassiz spoke of " the 

 zoological island of New England," which he described as 

 encircled by a uniform combination of fresh -water animals, 



* Trotter, Spencer, " Land Bird Fauna of North -Eastern America," 

 p. 226. 



