286 HISTORY OF THE EUROPEAN FAUNA. 



of the two, while the larger one resembling the American 

 Wapiti Deer arrived very much later from Siberia. 



The Mammoth, Wild Boar, Badger, the Dippers and Phea- 

 sants, are all Oriental species which have come to us from the 

 south-east ; but there are also Reptiles and Amphibians, and a 

 host of Invertebrates. Not all the animals, for instance, which 

 have reached us in England from the south-east are of Asiatic 

 origin. There is an active centre of distribution in South- 

 eastern Europe itself, from which species radiate out in all 

 directions. This fact is well illustrated by the genus Clausilia. 

 Species from this centre, and also from the Alps, joined the 

 Oriental stream in their northward course. 



In reviewing a number of instances of Oriental species in 

 Europe, one is struck by the peculiarity of their having ap- 

 parently followed two distinct routes. All entered from Asia 

 Minor, which is proved to have been connected with Greece 

 until recent geological times. From here some seem to have 

 proceeded straight west, others northward. Further study 

 reveals the fact that the first route was followed by a much 

 older set of migrants at a time when the Mediterranean area 

 was greatly different from what it is at the present day. 

 Greece was then joined to Southern Italy, Sicily, and Tunis. 

 The latter was also connected with Sardinia and Corsica, and 

 the Straits of Gibraltar did not exist. Under such geographical 

 conditions a direct migration on land from Southern Greece to 

 Spain was not only possible, but was actually undertaken by 

 a very large number of Oriental species. 



