4 «r 



LESSER SHEATHBILLS. 



CHAPTER I 



The Animals of the Antarctic 



Having in the preceding section got so far south in this zoological survey as New 

 Zealand, it will be convenient in the present chapter to discuss the faunas of the 

 coasts, islands, and oceans of high southern latitudes, after which, in the succeeding 

 chapter, we may again proceed north in - the direction of the Indo-Pacific Ocean. 

 So far, at any rate, as its animals are concerned, this great southern tract may be 

 taken to embrace not only the Antarctic proper, but the coasts extending from this 

 to about the thirtieth degree of south latitude. 



Geological evidence indicates that the Arctic region used to enjoy a mild 

 climate and formed a large continental area, which, in the opinion of some, served 

 to a certain extent as a centre of dispersal and radiation for animals in the northern 

 hemisphere, and it has been argued from this and other evidence that very similar 

 conditions formerly prevailed at the opposite pole. This theory receives support 

 from recent discoveries indicating the large area still occupied by the Antarctic 

 continent, and from the occurrence of a fossil flora in high southern latitudes which 

 must have required a comparatively warm climate for its development. The Lower 

 Miocene marine deposits of Patagonia, New Zealand, and Australia, which are 

 certainly of littoral origin, likewise afford evidence of an inter-continental connection 

 in later Tertiary times in high latitudes. Further testimony to the same effect is 

 adduced from the present faunas of the great southern continents, more especially 

 from beetles and other insects. The idea that such resemblances as exist between 



