UNIT-IX

ZOOGEOGRAPHY
Zoogeographic realms
It is believed that about 375 million years ago, the whole land mass was
one piece, called pangaea. Due to geographical changes, this land mass
separated, broke off and drifted apart by major barriers of sea, deserts or
mountains. All these regions had different climatic and topographic
conditions but the animals may have passed from one part to another.
Earth can be divided into 6 biogeographic regions on the basis of
distribution of plants and animals. These regions are called Realms.
P.L.Sclater (1858) proposed 6 realms for birds and A. R. Wallace (1876)
adapted this distribution for all animals. Each realm has certain unique
animals characteristic to it. These realms are:
1) Palaearctic
2) Ethiopian
3) Oriental
4) Australian
5) Nearctic
6) Neotropical
1) Palaearctic Realm/ Biggest Realm
Land: old world-Europe, Asia (North of Himalayas and Nanling range
of china, part of Iran and Afghanistan) and African continent north of
Sahara. There is no distinct barriers between realms.
Climate- Mostly temperate and show great fluctuation in rainfall
Reptiles- Very few
Birds-Robin, magpie etc
Mammals- Mole, hedgehog, panda, beaver, wolf, wild cat, lynx, tiger,
deer, ox, sheep, goat, horse, camel, wild boar etc.

2) Ethiopian Realm
Land: Africa and Arabia (South of tropic of cancer) and Malagasy. Some
consider Malagasy as separate region Madagascan.
Climate: They have varied climate from tropical to arid
Fauna:
Fish- Protopterus (lung fish)
Amphibians-Many anurans
Reptiles- Lizards, snakes, turtles
Primates- Tree shrews, lemur, tarsiers
Apes- chimpanzee, gorilla
Mammals- Lion, rhinoceros, pig, zebra, hippopotamus, giraffe, buffalo,
antelope etc.

3) Oriental Realm
Land: Southern Asia, East of Persian Gulf. It includes Indian
subcontinent from Himalayas down to Ceylon. Malaysia, Combodia,
Vietnam, Indonesia, Phillipines and Formosa.
Climate- Tropical
Fauna
Reptiles- King Cobra
Birds- Pheasant, jungle fowl. Peacock
Primitive Primates- Trasier, tree shrews, flying lemur, macaque
Apes- Gibbon, Orangutan
Mammals- Rhinoceros, tapir, Indian elephant, deer, bear, black panther,
lion, jackal, cheetah, hyaena and leopard etc.
4)Australian Realm/ Realm within fauna
Land- Australia, New Guinea, Tasmania, New Zealand, Oceanic islands
of Pacific including Hawali and also Pacific Island of Volcanic origin
(Polynesian).
Climate- Partly tropical and partly temperate.
Fauna-
Fish- Neoceratodus (Australian lung fish)
Amphibians- Few anurans, apodans
Reptiles- Sphenodon
Birds- Emu, kiwi, cassowary, brushy Turkey, lyre bird, cockatoo, bird of
paradise
Monotremes- Platypus, echidna
Marsupials- kangaroo, wombat, koala bear, Tasmanian wolf
Placental mammals- Rats, bats etc.
5) Nearctic Realm
Land- New world- North America (North of tropic of cancer) including
Greenland and other islands of Canada. It is completely cut off from all
other regions by sea.
Climate- Temperate
Fauna
Fish- Salmon, trout
Amphibian- Urodeles
Birds- Eagle, owl, blue jay, Turkey buzzard
Mammals- Raccoon, Prairie dog, musk rat, beaver, porcupine, bear, wolf,
mountain goat, caribou, bison, skunk, opossum, pronghorn etc.
Fauna of Palearctic and Nearctic realm are so alike that they may be
regarded as the race of single species. These combined realms are called
Holarctic Realm.
6) Neotropical Realm
Land- Tropical new world- Central America (South of Mexican Plateu),
South America, West Indies, Cuba and Falkland islands.
Climate- Tropical
Fauna
Fish- Lepidosiren (American lungfish)
Amphibians- All anurans
Birds- Rhea, toucan, puff bird, tinamous
Mammals- Tapir, llama, alpaca,precary, vampire, anteater, opossum,
armadillo, tree sloth, guinea pig, New world monkeys etc.
Wallace’s Line
Land masses of the Oriental and Australian Regions are separated by
several strings of islands and therefore it is difficult to draw a line
separating the two regions distinctly.
Wallace (1860) suggested a line running between Bali and Lumbok;
Borneo and Celebes and between Philippines and Sangi and Talaud.
Huxley named it Wallace’s Line. The differences between the fauna
of Bali and Lumbok, separated by 15 miles sea was especially
emphasized while marking the line.
Some years after Wallace’s observations, another line called Weber’s
Line was suggested, which was thought to divide the fauna of the two
regions better. The observation was based mainly on mollusks and
mammals. It runs between Moluccas and Celebes and
between Kei Islands and Timor.
Geologically, Wallace’s line marks the eastern limit of what was once a
land mass joined to Malay mainland and Weber’s Line more or less
marks off the western limit of Australian continent.
WALLACEA
Dickerson considered the area between Wallace’s and Weber’s lines as
transitional area, which is not part of any region and therefore considered
it a separate subtraction and named it Wallacea. Its islands were probably
under the sea for most part and thus lost all their original flora and flora
when they re-emerged. Later, they were recolonised irregularly from
both the regions. That is why they contain unique fauna. For example,
Celebes has few mammals, very few Amphibians (only frogs), no
freshwater fish and some peculiar birds from both the regions.

Some zoogeographers suggest keeping both Wallace’s and Weber’s lines

and the intervening transitional area as Wallacea. The following table
gives Oriental and Australian characters of the reptilian and avian fauna
of the islands of Wallacea.
FAUNA OF WALLACEA
Fishes. Out of many freshwater fishes on Borneo, none reaches Celebes,
except 2-3 species carried by man. On Java there is a decrease in fish
fauna from west to the east and very few Cyprinids reach Lesser Sundas
and they are also carried by man. Bali does not have any significant fish
fauna from Java.

Amphibia. Oriental frogs (Megaphrys) and Microhyla extend up to Bali

only, Bufo to Celebes, Bali and Lumbok and Rhacophorus to Celebes
and Timor.
From the Australian side, Leptodactylids reach New Guinea and Aru
Islands and Hyla extends to Moluccas and Timor.

Reptiles. Majority of the Oriental reptiles do not cross Wallace’s Line

and none extend beyond Weber’s line. From the Australian side only few
elapid snakes reach up to Moluccas.
Aves. Distribution of birds is complex. Some of the Oriental birds extend
up to New Guinea and some Australian species reach beyond the
Wallace’s Line. Seventy five percent of the birds on Lumbok are Oriental
but on Bali only 14.5% Australian birds exist.

Mammals. Most of the Oriental mammals stop on Borneo and Java,

very few reaching Celebes and Bali and none cross over to Moluccas and
Lesser Sundas. The Australian mammals stop in New Guinea and a only
a small fraction reach Aru and Kei Islands. Only one species of flying
phalanger reaches Celebes and Timor. There is very little overlapping of
the Australian and Oriental fauna in Wallacea.