486 TEXT-BOOK OF ZOOLOGY 



A principal agent in the distribution of animals, moreover, is their 

 capacity for migration. As an instance, we may mention the case of the 

 brown or migratory rat, which in the course of 200 years has spread 

 itself over the whole of Europe, having almost completely exterminated 

 the black rat. Nor must we neglect to consider man's influence on the 

 distribution of animals, of which the rabbits of Australia and the feral 

 oxen and horses of South America afford us striking proofs. 



In treating the fauna of a particular region, naturalists are in the 

 habit of laying special stress on the Mammalia inhabiting this region. 

 According to this method of classification, the earth is divided into the 

 following six great provinces, or zoological regions :* 



1. The Palaearctic Province includes Europe, Northern Asia as 

 far as the Himalayas, and Northern Africa as far as the Sahara. 

 Characteristic animals : Horse, camel, deer, oxen and sheep. Large 

 mammals are absent, viz., elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, etc. 



2. The Nearctic Province comprises Norlh America to the 

 Mexican deserts. The fauna much more resembles that of the Palaearctic 

 than that of the Neotropical province. Characteristic animals : Buffalo, 

 prong-buck. Several species, e.g., the humming-birds, encroach from 

 the South. 



3. The Indian Province includes Asia south of the Himalayas and 

 the Sunda Islands, with the exception of Celebes. Important animals : 

 Orang-utan, gibbon, fruit-eating bats, tiger, lion, Indian elephant, 

 Indian rhinoceros, zebu, peacock, pheasants, gavial. 



4. The Ethiopian Province comprises Africa south of the Sahara, 

 Southern Arabia and Madagascar (which, especially on account of the 

 abundance of Lemurs, forms a distinctly defined subprovince). Charac- 

 teristic animals : Gorilla, chimpanzee, baboon, lion, panther, leopard, 

 hyaena, African elephant, African rhinoceros, hippopotamus, zebra, 

 giraffe, antelope, Cape buffalo. 



5. The Neotropical Province includes South America and Central 

 America to the northern border of Mexico. Important animals : The 

 platyrrhine monkeys, vampire bat, jaguar, puma, llamas, sloths, ant- 

 eaters and armadillos, opossums, humming-birds. 



6. The Australian Province comprises the Australian Archipelago 

 and Celebes. Characteristic animals : Marsupials, the duck-bill, echidna 

 (other native mammals are absent), the emu, the birds of paradise of 

 New Guinea, and the apteryx of New Zealand. 



* Only animals mentioned in this work have been considered in this classification. 



