430 
G. J. DE FEJÉR VÁR Y 
Sjp. giganteus met with also on the K h i r g i z Puszt a ’s, 
is a fier a 11 o f European origin.» and again further on : «The establish¬ 
ment of this fact is in every way important, as furnishing one data more 
to weaken the opinion reigning yet to day, of the whole animal world of 
Europe being of Asiatic origin. 1 Sjpalax giganteus indubitably proves that at 
certain epochs, European species penetrated into Asia .»It would he inter¬ 
esting indeed to know which of these two opinions Prof. Méhely would 
consider as right in 1918 ? 
Let us now return to the geographical distribution of Varanus left 
off with the recent V. griseus Daud. 
As seen before, little is known about the expansion of Asiatic fossil 
Varanus. Thanks to Falconer’s highly valuable «Palaeontological Memoirs» 
and Lydekker’s already cited study, we have become acquainted with 
a few Pliocene and Pleistocene forms, occurring however in India on the 
same territory as that where the genus Varanus is not only met with to-day, 
but also displays its greatest variations. Up to the present times 2 3 in À s i a 
and in the Indo- Australian Archipelago 19 recent Varanus spe cies have 
been established, whilst in Australia only 12 recent species were 
found, Africa being in this instance the poorest continent, as within its 
boundaries only 5 species are known. The geographical map here appended, 
giving the distribution of recent forms, proves the interesting 
fact that in South-Eastern Asia — the pertaining islands included — the 
territorial expansion of Varanus is relatively much smaller than in 
Africa inhabited in its whole extent, but by the few species previously men¬ 
tioned. (Textfig. 24.) Australia is proportionally not much richer in Vara¬ 
nus than Africa, remaining in that respect far behind South-Eastern Asia. 
Considering the geographical distribution of the Varanidae, it might he 
concluded that in the Neogene period Australia must have stood in con¬ 
tinental relation to Asia . 4 Faunistica! knowledge has up to now established 
three Varanus species likewise inhabiting South-Western Asia, 
resp. the Archipelago, and Australia. This phenomenon proves 
beyond doubt that these species existed in the N e o g e n e period, 
when they must have uniformly spread over the Indo -Australian con¬ 
tinent, and the geographical dissociation, later ensuing, has not to this day 
separated them from the morphological point of view. Falconer and 
1 Sic! 
a According to Boulenger’s Cat. Liz. Brit. Mus., the Zoo]. Record and Arch, 
f. Naturgeschichte. 
3 This connexion is supposed by Arldt «Wanderungslinien im Piiocän u. Dilu¬ 
vium» (op. cit. Karte 8) between Asia and Australia, amongst other, in reference to the 
Varani Ice also. 
