2/8 HISTORY OF THE EUROPEAN FAUNA. 



that this happened in early pliocene times, we have 

 either to take for granted that the terrestrial fauna 

 and flora of these countries are of miocene origin, or 

 that they were joined again during the Pleistocene 

 Epoch. The range of a very large number of animals 

 and plants is such as can only be explained by 

 assuming that Tunis, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and 

 Southern Italy were connected with one another. Of 

 such extensive land-connections subsequent to the 

 arrival of the northern marine mollusca we possess, 

 however, no geological evidence whatsoever; and it is 

 extremely improbable that the land-areas which had 

 sunk were once more raised before again subsiding. 

 The many animals whose presence in the Mediter- 

 ranean Region bears witness to these ancient land- 

 connections could not have arrived there in miocene 

 times in fact, they could hardly have lived there 

 before the end of the Pliocene Epoch. On the other 

 hand, it seems difficult to believe, once the Straits of 

 Gibraltar were open and the waters of the Atlantic 

 able to enter the Mediterranean, that the sunken 

 parts between Sicily, Italy, and Tunis could have 

 been raised without affecting the entire area of that 

 sea. Nor is it likely that the junction between these 

 countries could have then been brought about by a 

 general lowering of the Mediterranean waters. As it 

 may be asked what evidences we possess at all for 

 the supposition of such land-connections as I have 

 indicated, also that Southern Italy and Greece 

 were connected, a few of the more salient instances 



