ZOOLOGICAL GEOGRAPHY.
THE GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISION AND DISTRIBUTION
OF
KEPT! LI A (REPTILES).
CLASSIFICATION AND EXTENSION OVER THE GLOBE.
The class of Reptiles-which, of all animals of higher organization, are regarded by man with the greatest suspicion and mistrust, being considered more baneful than useful, more as objects of aversion and dreadthan of interest and attraction-present by far the most wonderful diversity of form and structure. Thus the difference between the form of the long, trailing snake, and the ponderous, shield-covered tortoise is
much nTPftter than that nplwppn tno nlpnhnnt anri thp mnn«A nr tn#> nan-1 o tLo ~~~ j* aU - r*. n_ • r t ° m , m r 1 _ c wuuisc,
i . , i • n Al _ r i n ,-,-- «ww^i*.vu, uu.vumo, iy me uiusv xeueub caicuiauons, 10 SIX
by far the smallest number of species belonging to any of the four c asses of vertehrated animals; hut it is necessary to bear in mind that the number of those whose habitat is not ascertained must amount tosome hundreds more, and C. Bonaparte, in 1832, reckoned the whole at nine hundred and forty-five, including the fossil species.
In regard to the distribution of Reptiles over the globe, a glance at the map will show that they are, to a much greater extent than any of the three other classes of vertebrated animals limited to thecountries of the torrid zone ; only a few of the smaller genera occur m the countries of the temperate zone. In fact they can more easily bear the rigours of a severe winter than suffer the absenceof a hot summer; hence in Scandinavia, although the species are very few in number, the individuals are much more numerous than in Britain . Very few species reach the isothermal line of 32° and stillfewer extend beyond it. The Frogs generally extend farthest towards the polar regions; yet a species of Lizard (L. ocellata ) has been discovered as far north as Kamtchatka , through the southern part otwhich the isothermal line of 32 passes. Indeed, the common Water Frog {liana esculenta) extends to a much higher latitude in Finland, although it does not reach the isothermal line of 32° In the NewWorld, the Frogs extend beyond this line in Greenland and British America . On the hanks of the Mackenzie River Frogs and Salamanders are known to extend to the 67th degree of latitude where themean temperature is not above 7° or 8° of Fahrenheit, and where the cold in winter sometimes descends to more than 90° below the freezing point. The farthest point to which Reptiles have been’ascertainedto extend in the Southern Hemisphere is latitude 50 south, where, on the banks of the river Santa Cruz, a frog was observed by Mr Darwin. The shadings on the map, too, will indicate that the grelt rivecourses, estuaries, and level tracts of continents, together with the smaller low lying islands of tropical seas, are the chief haunts of the Reptilia . b
DIVISION AND INTENSITY OF THE SPECIES.
If the Reptile fauna of all countries were as thoroughly known as it is, for example, in the small state of Connecticut , the result attained, as to comparative numbers, would, doubtless, be very differentfrom that we now possess, which gives for Connecticut fifty-six, 1 and for the whole of Asia with the exception of the East Indies) only forty-four species. In the following table we have attempted to presenta complete view of the division of the four orders of Reptiles and their families over the globe, with the exception of the Serpents , of which we shall treat in the second section of this paper In represent.!!"the intensity of species in this map, we have endeavoured to combine the principles adopted in the first two maps of this division. The comparative amount of species is indicated by shading, as in the first, and”at the same time, the world is divided into provinces, m each of which synoptical tables are inserted, as in the second map. The number of provinces in this map is limited to seven which are dividedaccording to the zones, namely, three lornd, three Temperate, and one Austral province. These provinces, with the number of species of their entile fauna, are, next to the division of Reptiles over the globealso given in the annexed table:— 1 o '
TABLE SHOWING THE DIVISION OF REPTILES OVER THE GLOBE.
Eur
OPB.
Ac.
Zoological Provinces ofthb Map .
ORDERS and Families
S
0)
Temperate
vinces
Pro-
Tropical Provinces
OP THE
REPTILES,
WITH THE
Number of their Species.
•D
c
o
cu
-c
5
<4
3
1 Asia M nor.
Java.
Barbary.
1
2<
■c
rt
n
2
%
a.
>,
CL
.a
<
1
c
a»
V
c
c
CQ
c
£
s
Madagascar.
c
c
.2
a
s
c
c
ft
*3
5
01
*
Asia , without the Hast Indies.
i'entral ar.d South America , j
Aftica.
8
•o
C
a
u:
1
A
umber
of the
* i
J e C
i e 8.
j I. TESTUDINES (Tortoises),
GO
.
.
1
<2
1
5
2
1
4
1
7
.
8
10
8
1
6
6
3
4
3
2
3
1
19
4
6
7
15
1
3
2
21
6
4
18
15
23
5
1. Terrestrial or Land Tort.
2. Fresh-water Tortoises
15
•
•
i
2
•
i
2
•
i
•
i
3
i
i
3
1
2
i
2
i
3
i
i
i
i
2
i
4
7
3
2
a Marsh Tortoises,
. 36
1
2
i
2
.
.
2
.
3
4
5
5
1
2
1
i
i
14
2
1
3
9
2
15
2
o
7
2
11
2
b Fluviatile or Kiver T.
io
.
•
.
1
2
.
3
5
3
i
2
1
2
i
1
6
3. Marine Tortoises or Turtles, h
•
2
1
i
*
3
2
i
2
1
i
3
i
3
2
3
•
•
i
3
2
i
6
5
3
1
II. SAURIA (Lizards), . .
203
3
2
4>
£2
3
14
3©
7
5
9
G
8
13
1
IO
18
IO
1
9
24
28
5
17
1
11
3
8
6
12
19
46
2
2
9
5
1
13
29
17
67
69
45
14
4. Crocodilidae (Crocodiles),
13
i
1
2
1
2
•
i
i
•
i
1
2
2
i
4
i
•
1
*
3
i
6
3
4
i
leons),.
i
i
2
i
i
I
2
2
i
4
1
1
2
6
2
i
6. Geckotidae (Geckos),
. ar
•
2
2
4
2
3
2
3
1
3
i
1
4
5
i
i
3
2
2
3
i
2
4
4
5
22
11
13
6
2
• 55
•
1
1
1
1
3
3
i
2
5
2
4
1
O'
i
6
i
4
2
6
6
14
1
1
5
3
17
3
8. Varanidae (Varans , JNloni-
tors, &c.), .
. 15
I
1
3
2
3
1
2
1
4
1
1
2
l
i
i
5
7
2
9. Teidae (Teguixins), . .
10. Lacertidae (True Lizards),
. 11
6
8
]I
ao
2
2
t
5
2
3
5
2
4
1
1
2
7
5
i
1
2
*
*
i
8
5
3
9
11. Chalcidae (Chalcis , Sauro
phis, &c.), ....
• 10
1
1
2
1
2
1
.
3
l
3
i
1
1
2
4
2
3
i
3
6
12. Scincidae (Skinks), . .
• 39
4
i
5
8
1
2
1
1
3
3
4
4
1
6
5
2
5
5
2
2
1
it
i
4
3
i
10
14
15
7
5
III. OPHIDIA (Serpents ), 265(Containing the Families 13-21.)
3
3
3
8
9
9
11
12
6
5
4
14
G
51
9
26
56
•
16
11
11
10
10
18
6
5
2
28
6
24
48
42
5
7
11
12
2
30
15
15
84
50
105
23
120
8
5
4
9
8
6
11
6
3
5
1
1
4
4
•
7
2
1
3
38
1
1
21
50
1
2
6
3
39
23
8
74
9
6
7
22. Caeciliadae (Caecilias), .
. 5
i
i
5
24. Salamaudridae (Tritons
. 81
4
4
3
7
5
4
7
5
3
4
i
i
4
3
5
2
i
2
17
•
i
17
53
i
2
6
3
.
17
13
7
4
70
7
7
and Newts), ....
■ ao
4
1
1
2
2
2
4
1
1
1
15
15
1
2
25. Amphiumidae (Amphiuma,
&.C.), .
26. Pro teidae (Proteus, Axolotl , &c.), 6
4
i
5
i
•
Amount of the Species of all
Kepnles, .
057
14
IO
IO
31
ai|
29
47
a?
14
20
15
24
10
75
10
44
84
18
18
26
48
43
19
39
9
19
9
93
17
43
95
159
9
11
29
22
3
103
73
44
243
143
179
I
49 |
The above table shows that the number of species of Reptiles occurring in the countries of the torrid fzone is at least double that of the countries of the temperate zone, and that, as in the case of the most ofthe orders of Mammalia, the exception to this general law is found in the Australian province, whichdoes not contain a third part of the number occurring in the adjoining Tropical province of Asia , noreven as many as are found in Europe . The relative maxima of species are, for the Old World, eighty-four (in Java); and for the New World one hundred and fifty-nine (in Brazil), that is to say, America contains nearly the half of all Reptiles.
In regard to the division of the single orders, we find that the order of the Tortoises is most nume-rous in the United States, in Brazil, and in the Great Sunda Islands. In Africa, the Barbary States contain the greatest number of species, the amount being equal to those inhabiting the whole of Europe ,which are almost all found in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean Sea .
Of the two hundred and three species which compose the order of the Lizards , by far the greater Inumber occur in the provinces of Africa and South America , each of which contains about one-third •but the relative greatest number of species is found in Brazil , which possesses forty-six, or nearly one-fourth of all the Lizards . To this country the families of the Teguixins, Iguanas, and Skinks are peculiar,and it contains most of the species of Crocodiles. North America possesses, in proportion to the otherprovinces, as well as to the three other orders, the smallest number of Lizards. In Europe , the greaternumber of species belongs to the families of the Geckos, True Lizards, and Skinks. Of these together,Italy alone contains seventeen species. In Asia , although the countries of the tropical regions are richerin species than those of the temperate regions, the case is very different in regard to the single families.
In Africa the northern countries contain the greatest number of species; the Chameleons , Geckos,Monitors, and Skinks are the characteristic families in this quarter. In Australia and New Guinea thegreatest number of species belongs to the Scincidae.
To the most numerous and most important order, that of the Serpents , a separate section isdevoted, so that they are not treated of in this general view; but, in order to complete the survey, thegross number of their species is quoted in the foregoing table, which shows the very striking result oftheir division in the two neighbouring islands of Borneo and Java, since in the former not a singlespecies has yet been observed, while the latter contains relatively the greatest number of species of allcountries, namely, fifty-six species, or more than one-fifth of all Serpents .
The last and least important order, that of the Frogs , is distinguished in its division from thethree first orders in this respect, that it occurs in by far the greatest numbers in the New World ; forwhile the Tropical province of America contains seventy-four species, the two corresponding provincesof the Old World have, respectively, only nine and six species; and even these few species generallyinhabit the more temperate countries of this province, for on none of the islands of the Asiatic Archi-pelago has a single frog hitherto been observed. North America and Europe occupy the middle spacebetween these two extremes. In Europe , the species are very equally distributed. ’
SECTION I.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE ORDERS AND SOME OF THE OENERA AND SPECIES.
Order I. — Testudines (Tortoises). The animals of this order are, more than those of any of theothers, limited to the countries of the torrid zone. The Marsh Tortoise attains the highest latitude;Emys Europea (common Marsh Tortoise), extends to the parallel of 52“ north, in the Prussian pro-vinces of Silesia and Brandenburg, while the northernmost limit in North America is formed by a species
1 See American Journal of Science, 1843-44. No. 46.
“^7 Renting the River Winnipeg, in 50° north latitude. The southernmost limit is formed by aspecies of the family of Land Tortoises, Testudo sulcata (Furrowed Tortoise), which, according^d Orbigny, is common in Patagonia. The Marine Tortoises, or Turtles, generally termed Chelomansare found on the shores of all the tropical seas, but chiefly within the parallels of 30° north, and 30°south latitude. To the south they are found m Norfolk Island, latitude 29° south ; but in the NorthernHemisphere they reach, as occasional stragglers, a much higher latitude. In the New World Sam"cw-iacea (Leathery Tortoise) is found as far north as Massachusetts Bay , latitude 43° north; in the OldWorld, the same species is frequently met with in the Mediterranean , especially on the northern coastof Africa, and on the shores of Sardinia; it is occasionally captured in the Adriatic Sea , in the River
Lou-e, in Languedoc, Cette, Bretagne , and sometimes on the coast of Oornwal 1 . Once indeed a
htitude GO S' ^r l^ and Flemt^'l''’^ ? Ug !? at Pa P\ St0Ur ’ one of *e Shetland Islands, ’inlatitude GO 30 north, and Fleming, who states this extraordinary case in his excellent “Historvof
British Animals,' assigns as the probable cause of its being found there, uncommonly warm seasons themore or less abundant supply of food or the prevalence of storms. Perhaps the Guff Stream may haveassisted in i s transportation to so high a latitude. The chase of the Hawk’s-bill Turtle Slrnishes the horny plates covenng the carapace, known in commerce under the name of tortoiseand whichaffords an important article of trade, is carried on chiefly in two separate regions oTthe globe In heEastern Hemisphere, the principal theatre of this fisherv is in tholU,r 1 j , ln ,
... 9 rrerI l 77 S . au ^l a ( Lizards )- The first and most important family of this order that of the Crocoailes, is divided into three groups, which derive tlW mA.™, j-j* is oruer, tnat ot tne Lroco-
extend from Congo to Senegambia on the west, and Egyp " on the easJ Xe'com™
Nile is distributed over nearly the whole river district and tWh itt J ? Crocodile of the^abundant in the Thehaid on the Upper Nile and its tributaries, througLufNubia and iSni ^The Asiatic Crocodile extends from the north-west coast of Australia thrnmrL t„j- 4 , • AHindustan, where Gavialis Gangeticus (Gavial) is found in the Ganges Durint A ^|*. I P ela g 0 , t0
Colonel Chesney, in 1835, crocodiles were discovered
families, one of the most interesting is that of the Chameleons , the habitat of which as shown bvthe map, is exclusively confined to the Old World. One of its species ’ ® bown
Chameleon) extends, in the south of Europe , to the southern parts anfsicil^ W
species of the family of Geckos are also inhabitants of the warmer parts of Eurnnp • hnt 11 1
. Order IV.—Batrachia or Amphibia (Frogs ). We have already referred generally to the ex-tension of the animals of this order. The beautiful little animal Hgla riridis (|reen See-Frog) Isfound in all the countries of middle and southern Europe and northern Africa , to the Land of TWriffe, it occurs also in Japan; it has never been observed in Great Britain tfin,nrL ;* .
in France . Of ,h. nJL bc. 0 „ gi „ e Great Briiain, the .»S.n" S S'nil ™“,"eight species, belong to this order. b numoer, namely,