6 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF CHINA 



of these is the great Tsing Ling Divide that extends from 

 the highlands of the Tibetan border through Southern Kansu, 

 and Southern Shensi into Honan. North of this divide we 

 have one group of animals, south of it another. It forms 

 the boundary line of the ranges of a large number of both 

 mammals and reptiles. For instance, we' have already seen 

 how it marks the southerly limits of the range of the roedeer. 

 At the same time it forms the northerly limit of the range 

 of the muntjao, another small deer, and the porcupine. To 

 the north of it the animals are Tartarian in their affinities, 

 to the south they are Oriental. In the provinces of Kansu, 

 North Shensi, Shansi, Chihli, and Fengtien, the western- 

 most province of Manchuria, we find such animals as the 

 allaetaga, the suslik, the gazelle, the wild sheep, animals 

 which denote the intrusion of a Steppe fauna.. At the same 

 time we have the roedeer, the wapiti, or reddeer, the wild 

 boar, and the fur-squirrel, which suggest a forest fauna, and 

 connect this part of the country, faunistically, with Europe 

 by way of Manchuria and Siberia. 



Central China, which may be taken as coinciding roughly 

 with the basin of the Yangtsekiang, is again characterized 

 by the presence of certain forms, while when we come to 

 the extreme south we find typically Indian or Malayan 

 animals appearing. The animals of Central China seem to 

 have spread eastward and northward to a certain extent, 

 which accounts for an intrusion of Oriental species into 

 Manchuria, as for instance the black bear and the sika deer. 

 These may, however, have arrived in Manchuria from South 

 China by way of the low-lying coastal provinces of the east. 

 In any case we are fairly safe in dividing China up into 

 three main faunistic areas, North, Central, and South, noting 

 that the northern animals are partially Tartarian, or 

 Mongolian, the animals of Central China being typically 

 Chinese, and those of the south being partially Indian or 

 Malayan. And there we may leave the matter, since nothing 

 is to be gained by stressing the point too far. 



Before making a rapid survey of the more prominent 

 and interesting orders, families, genera and species of animals 

 occurring in China it would be well to consider briefly the 

 work done upon our subject by past field naturalists, ex- 

 perts in the museums of Europe and America, and others, 

 at the same time taking note of the literature that is extant. 

 The names of men like P'ere David, a Jesuit missionary who 

 travelled over a great part of China studying the fauna and 

 making collections which were sent to the Paris Museum, 

 and Eobert Swinhoe, a British consul who also was a keen 



