428 DISTRIBUTION IN SPACE AND TIME 



Crowned Pigeons, the land Kingfisher [Dacelo) familiarly known 

 as the "Laughing Jackass", the "More-Pork" birds {Podargus), 

 the Mound- Builders, Cassowaries, and Emus. All these, except 

 Honey-Suckers, Parrots (not Cockatoos), and Pigeons, are repre- 

 sented in New Zealand, but the other birds named are absent. 

 There are, however, some highly peculiar Novo-Zelanian forms, 

 found in no other area. These include the Kea and Kaka 

 Parrots {^Ncstoi-), the ground- dwelling Owl -Parrot i^Stringops), 

 and the Kiwi {Aptcryx), which is the smallest existing represen- 

 tative of the Running Birds {Rahia-). But within the period of 

 human occupation a number of large species of the last-named 

 group existed in the islands, i.e. the " Moas " {^Dinorniihidcr), 

 some of which were over lo feet in height. 



Australian Reptiles {Reptilia). — Crocodiles range across the 

 northern part of the region as far east as the Solomon and 

 Fiji Islands. Among the numerous Lizards two peculiar to the 

 Australian continent deserve mention, i.e. the Frilled Lizard 

 iChlamydosaiiriis), which can run for some distance on its hind- 

 legs, and the spiny Mountain Devil [Moloch). Snakes are found 

 in abundance, but details are unnecessary. New Zealand pos- 

 sesses a number of Lizards {Geckoes and Skiiiks), but neither 

 Crocodiles nor terrestrial Snakes. Some small islands in the 

 Bay of Plenty are, however, of peculiar interest, for they are the 

 home of the Tuatara {Hatteria), which is the last surviving 

 member of an exceedingly ancient and once widely distributed 

 reptilian order {Rliynckocepkala), that was very probably ancestral 

 to all the other known groups. 



Australian Amphibians {Amphibia). — Tailless forms [Anura) 

 are well represented in the region, but New Zealand has only 

 one indigenous species of amphibian, a sort of Toad [Liopelma). 



Australian Fishes {Pisces). — The most interesting species 

 native to this region is Ceratodus, a Lung-Fish {Dipnoi) now 

 limited to Queensland. 



Fauna of the Neotropical Region. — Although the results 

 of isolation are not here quite so well marked as in the case of 

 Australia, to say nothing of New Zealand, the fauna of the region 

 presents many well-marked characteristics, both positive and 

 negative. It affords a refuge to certain archaic forms, which 

 have been able to prolong the tenure of their existence in the 

 absence of large numbers of carnivores, and, for the same reason, 



