536 HENKY E. BLANEOKD ON THE 



and the Bocky Mountains and Andes to the two Americas. As it is 

 desirable to designate this Mesozoic land by a name, I would propose 

 that of Indo-Oceania. Professor Huxley has suggested, on palaeon- 

 tological grounds *, that a land connexion existed in this region (or 

 rather between Abyssinia and India) during the Miocene epoch. 

 From what has been said above, it will be seen that I infer its 

 existence from a far earlier date. "With regard to its depression, 

 the only present evidence relates to its northern extremity, and 

 shows that it was, in this region, later than the great trap-flows of 

 the Dakhan. These enormous sheets of volcanic rock are remarkably 

 horizontal to the east of the Ghats or the Sahyadri range, but to the 

 west of this they hegin'to dip seawards, so that the island of Bombay 

 is composed of the higher parts of the formation f. This indicates 

 only that the depression to the westward has taken place in Tertiary 

 times; and to that extent Professor Huxley's inference, that it was 

 after the Miocene period, is quite consistent with the geological 

 evidence. 



It is well known that in the Indian fauna of today there is a 

 considerable intermixture of forms which are identical with those of 

 North Africa, or nearly related to them. Among them may be 

 instanced the Lion, Hysena, Jackal, Leopard, the true Antelopes, and 

 the Gazelles, the common Sand- Grouse (Pterocles eceustus), and the 

 Indian Bustard. There are also several land mollusca, a group which 

 is of especial value in questions of the distribution of faunas, viz. 

 several species of Bulimus and Helix, and one of the two Cyclosto- 

 moid genera (Otopoma) known to occur in India. This fauna is most 

 abundant in the dry region around the Indus ; but some forms extend 

 through the Indian peninsula, and even into Ceylon. Prom Western 

 India it ranges through Persia, Arabia, and. Syria, indicating clearly 

 the route by which it has penetrated to India. It is sometimes 

 termed the " Desert-fauna." There is also a corresponding element 

 in the Indian flora, termed byDrs. Hooker and Thomson £ the 

 " Egyptian type." 



But besides this element, there is another fauna which is closely 

 related to the forms of Tropical and Southern Africa and Mada- 

 gascar, also to those of the Mauritius, Bourbon, and the Seychelles §. 

 One of the most striking and familiar examples is afforded by the 

 Lemurs, one genus of which occurs in Southern India and Ceylon, 

 viz. the Loris, and two in the Malay peninsula (Nycticebus and 

 Galeopithecus), all other members of the family (with the exception 

 of one Javese form |j) being indigenous to Madagascar and Tro- 

 pical Africa. Another good example is afforded by the scaly Ant- 

 eaters (Manis), which, with the African Orycteropi, are the sole ex- 

 isting representatives of the Edentata in the Old World, occurring in 



* Anniversary Address to the Greol. Soc. 1870, p. lvi. 



t Wynne, " G-eology of the Island of Bombay," Mem. G. S. I. vol. v. Art. 3. 

 \ Introductory Essay to the ' Flora Indie*a,' p. 112. 



§ This has been particularly noticed in the case of the Mammalia by Mr. 

 Andrew Murray and Prof. Huxley. 

 || Jerdon's ' Mammals of India,' p. 16. 



