THE NATURAL HISTORY OF CHINA 5 



into Manchuria. Thence it turns south and west, extending 

 into North China and on into Eastern Tibet. This deer does 

 not occur in Central or South China, its range being bounded 

 in this direction by the Tsing Ling Mountains. 



Reptiles represent a very old group of animals. One 

 instance in connection with their ancestry and distribution 

 may be mentioned here. It is that of the little Yangtse 

 alligator. The Crocodilidae represent almost the very oldest 

 living group of reptiles, and they acquired their distribution 

 upon the face of the earth a very long time ago. It is 

 believed that they originated in the Old World, spreading 

 into the New World at a very remote period. These New 

 World members of the group are all alligators or caimens, 

 DO true crocodiles being found in American waters. Since, 

 hnv there is an alligator to be found in the Old World, 



fchal from (she Yangtse, it is obvious that at one time this 

 us enjoyed a very wide distribution in both the Old and 

 Ids, and that in some way the Old and the New 

 Worlds were connected at that time. 



Palaeontology has proved of the utmost assistance in 

 determining how the distribution of fishes, both marine and 



about, though as yet nothing very im- 



rtanl in the way of fossil remains of this type of cold- 



blooded vertebrate lias been found in Chinese strata. 



i1 ifl believed that China formed a centre of 



-vat carp family (Cyprinidae), receiving 



th e same time an influx of Silurids, or cat-fishes, from the 



q of the Indian Ocean. 



We may next consider for a while the question ot the 



mistic areas that occur in China, or to which parts of 



long. Many years ago a distinguished naturalist 



ided the globe up into great faunistic regions such as the 



ll:!t „ Qcluding practically the whole of Europe and 



1 ftI1 (l Northern ^sia, the Ethiopian including Africa 



Sahara, the Oriental, including Inadia and 



\iala> and the Nearctic, including North America. Since 



t hat time i1 has become customary to go on dmdmgup 



thi ubregions or faunistic provinces oft en,. t 



ldmitted W ith but poor success. Notwithstanding 



, . may make some such attempt in the case of 



J ,/,. even if certain groups of animals are not amen- 



\ 1 ;\ueh a treatment, others undoubtedly are, and it 



; „ ,, lth assisl us in our examiation of the Chinese animals 



; can discover the presence of such faunistic areas. 



,. of faSfc the task is not a difficult one, for 

 o e ve v striking faunistic barriers occur m China, One 



