Essay on the Important Zoogeography regions of Planet Earth!

The Important Zoogeography regions of Mother Earth!

A few groups of animals are cosmopolitan in having world-wide distribution and most
animals are restricted in distribution because of same kind of barrier or because of past
history of origin and dispersal.

An understanding of their present-day distribution takes us into zoogeography Major units of

distribution are the zoological region or zoogeographical regions, areas defined largely by the
past and present relations of the continent to each other. Each region is further subdivided
into faunal or ecological units, depending on the criteria used.

Zoogeographical Regions:
There are six zoogeographical regions, each more or less embracing a major continental land
mass and all have long been separated from one another by water (oceans and fresh-water
bodies), mountain ranges or desert, so that, each region has evolved its distinctive and
characteristic orders and families of animals.

These major distributional units were first recognised by Sclater (1858), modified by Huxley
(1868), extended by Wallace (1876) and best described in a modern way by Darlington
(1957) and others. The six zoogeographical regions are the Palaearctic, the Nearctic, the
Neotropical, the Ethiopian, the Oriental and the Australian.

Because some zoogeographers consider the Neotropical and the Australian regions to be so
different from the rest of the world, these two are of en considered as regions or realms equal
to the other four combined. They are classified as Neogea (the Neotropical), Notogea (the
Australian) and Metagea (the Palaearctic, Nearctic, Ethiopian and Oriental

Moreover, two zoogeographic regions, namely the Palaearctic and the Nearctic are quite
closely related, so the two often considered as one, the Holarctic. In fact, these two regions
are similar in climate, vegetation, and in their faunal composition having animals like wolf,
hare, moose (called elk in North America), caribou, wolverine and bison.

Palaearctic region:
This largest region comprises the whole of Europe, Soviet Russia, Northern China, Japan,
Northern Arabia (Persia) and narrow strip of coastal North Africa. It is subdivided into
European, Mediterranean, Siberian and Manchurian subregions.
Mammals. There are 33 families of land mammals. Animals of word-wide distribution which
amounts to one-third of families are rabbits, mice dog family, shrews, squirrels and cat
family.
            Animals that are restricted to the Old World include hedge hog, porcupine, civets,
giant panda (Ailuropoda), hyena and pigs.
            Four families are shared with Nearctic: beavers, jumping mice, flying squirrels, mole
(Talpa) and four shared with African region.
                Endemic mammals: mole rat (Spalacidae) and Camel (Seleviniidae), dormice.
            African elements are wild horses, the prezevalski’s horse is the only truly wild horse
in the world.
 
Aves.  There are 53 families of birds most of which are migratory. All birds have wide
distribution and are shared with Nearctic, Oriental and African regions, e.g. pheasants, 
wrens, finches, warblers, sea birds, geese, birds of prey, cranes, terns, gulls etc.
            Hedge sparrow is restricted to this region.
 
Reptiles. There is no endemic reptilian family. Lizard, Sinisaurus, and Alligartor sinensis are
endemic in China. There are lizards, snakes, Typhlops and sand boa, Trionyx and emydine
turtles.
 

Amphibia. There are common newts, crested newt (Triton), Spanish newt and alpine newt.
The colourless Proteus is blind and lives in European caves. There are European
salamanders, Salamandra salamandra and S. atra and a species of giant salamander
(Megalobatrachus) in Japan and China that attains a length of over 5 feet.  Anurans are
represented by frogs, toads, tree frogs. Male of the midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans), which
is found in France and Italy carried eggs wrapped around his hind legs. Amphibians show
affinities with Nearctic Region.

Fishes. Fish fauna also shows affinities with Nearctic. There is no endemic fish and carp is
the dominant family. There are carps, salmon, pikes, perches, eels and Petromyzon that
migrates from sea to the rivers to breed and the ammocoete larva, commonly known as sand
sleeper lives in mud for several years in European rivers. Few species of toothless sturgeons
immigrate from sea to the rivers of Japan and Russia for laying eggs which are harvested to
prepare a delicacy called caviar.

            The fauna is a mixture of Old World tropics and New World temperate.
Nearctic region:
This region comprises the North American continent south to the Tropic of Cancer (i.e.,
Greenland and North America). It is subdivided into Californian, Rocky mountain, Allegany
and Canadian subregions. The Nearctic is the home of many reptiles and has more endemic
families of vertebrates.

Mammals.  There are 24 families of land mammals.

            Endemic mammals include rodents, pocket mice (Heteromyidae), pocket gophers
(Geomyidae) and mountain beavers (Aplodontidae). Pronghorns and Sewellel
(Antilocapridae) are endemic artiodactyls.
            Palaearctic elements include beavers, moles (Talpidae), pikas and jumping mice.
            Neotropical species that have crossed over to North America are marsupials such as
opossum (Didelphis virginiana), shrew opossum (Lestoros inca); 9-banded armadillo
(Dasypus) and tree porcupine.
            There are some mammals of wide ranging distribution, namely, shrews, rabbits,
squirrels, mice, cats, bats, bears, deers and bovids.
 
Birds. There are 49 families of birds in this region out of which 39 are widely distributed.
            Exclusive birds are: red cardinals, humming birds, tanagers and wild turkeys
(Meleagrididae). Golden plover migrates from Europe.
 
Reptiles. There are turtles, non-poisonous garter snakes, rattle snakes, geckos, horned lizards,
limbless lizard (Ophisaurus), horned toad (Phrynosoma) and Alligator mississipiensis. Gila
monster (Heloderma) is exclusive to this region.
 

Amphibia. Urodeles include salamanders, hellbender (Cryptobranchus), neotenic larva

called axolotl, eel-like siren, the Congo eel (Amphiuma) and tiger salamanders, Ambystoma
tigrinum.  Newts include Smooth newt, great crested newt, banded newt, alpine newt,
Bosca’s newt. There are dusky salamanders, red-backed salamander and Jordan’s
salamander.

            Anurans include American Bell toad, Liopelma, North American bull frog and
Leopard frog found in grassy meadows. Rana cascadae and Bufo boreas inhabits Cascade
Mountains of Oregon, USA. The desert spade-foot toad is adapted to the arid climate of
northwestern America. Other toad species are: Oak toad, southwestern toad and the giant toad
which is 20 cm long.

Fishes. There are many carps (Cyprinidae) and perches. Holostei are endemic that include
only two surviving ganoid fishes, one species of bowfin (Amia calva) found in American
lakes and 7 species of garpike (Lepidosteus) found in American rivers. These fishes possess
sharp teeth to seize and gulp prey with extraordinary swiftness. Paddlefish (Polyodon) occurs
in Mississippi river of America and represents Chondrostei. Another species of paddlefish
occurs in China. These fishes have paddle-like snout that carries sensory organs for locating
prey by detecting its electrical fields. Ameiurid catfishes, moon-eyes (Hiodontidae) and bass
family with genera Morone and Upiblema are also endemic.
             The fauna of Nearctic Region is rich in reptiles and is a complex of tropical and
temperate animals.
 
Neotropical region:
It includes Central America, South America, part of Mexico and the West Indies. This region
lacks well-developed ungulate fauna of the plains, but have rich, distinctive, varied endemic
fauna of vertebrates.

Mammals. There are 32 families of mammals of which 16 are unique.

            Widely distributed animals are shrews, rabbits, squirrels, mice, dogs, bears, cats and
deers.
            Camels are represented by two species of Llama: L. vicuna and L. guanaco. Llama
and Alpaca are domesticated breeds of these species. There are three species of tapirs of
which one species also occurs in the Oriental Region.
            Monkeys include: spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys, howlers, capuchin, marmosets
which belong to families Cebidae and Hapalidae of suborder Platyrrhina.
            Endemic mammals include, six-banded armadillo (Euphractus),  armadillo
(Dasypus), two-toed sloth (Choloepus), 3-toed sloth (Bradypus), 3 species of anteaters,
(Myrmecophaga), 11 endemic families of rodent Caviomorpha and five endemic families of
bats that include disc-winged bats, furipterid bats and vampire bats (Desmodontidae), the last
one is also a carrier of rabies.
            Marsupials belong to the family Didelphidae (12 genera) that includes common
opossum (Didelphis) and water opossum (Chironectes) and family Coenolestidae (3 genera)
includes opossum rat (Ceonolestes). The common opossum has also spread to the Nearctic
Region where it has adapted to varied climatic conditions.  
            There are no hedgehogs, moles, beavers, hyenas, bovids and horses in this region.

Aves. Almost 50% of the avian fauna is endemic and unique due to which South America is
known as The Bird Continent. Out of 67 families of birds, 25 are endemic to the region.
There are partridge-like tinamous, toucans that carry enormous beaks, trumpeters, hoatzin,
cock of the rock (Rupicola), oil birds and several species of macaws, such as yellow macaw,
Hahn’s macaw, red bellied macaw and red and blue macaw. Quail is the only member of
Galliformes here. Bee hummingbird found in Cuba measures only 6 cm and is the smallest
bird.

            Ostriches are represented by Rhea americana.

                Common birds include herons, ibis, storks, ducks, hawks, owls, plover, cuckoos.
There is scarcity of song birds.

Reptiles. There are plenty of snakes, iguanid lizards, Crocodilus, Caiman (alligator) and
turtles.  Xantusiid lizards are endemic. There are tree boas, anacondas, pit vipers and coral
snakes. Mud turtles (Pelomedusidae) are shared with Africa and snake-neck turtles,
Chelodina (Chelidae) with Australia.

Amphibia. There are hylid tree frogs such as Brazilian tree frog Hyla, Hylodes, Cuban tree
frog, Venezuelan tree frog that deters predators by foul odour and the poisonous
Phyllomedusa found in Amazon. Leptodactylus deposits its eggs in frothy mass in holes on
muddy banks of rivers and ponds and Hyla faber makes crater-like nests. The Tungara frog is
noisy and makes foam nests. Tiny frogs belong to the genera Phyllobates, Dendrobates and
Agalychnis. The yellow frog is the largest and most toxic and its poison is used by Colombia
tribes to poison their blowgun darts. The dart poison frog  is also highly poisonous. The
tongue and toothless Surinam toads show parental care. The small Chilean frog carries eggs
in the gular pouch while the Brazilian tree frog, Hyla goeldii carries eggs on the back.
Caecilians are represented by Typhlonectes. Oedipus is the only tailed amphibian (Urodela)
found in South America.  

Fishes. There are no carps (Cyprinidae) and other fish fauna is endemic. There is electric eel
(Gymnotidae), cat fishes (Diplomystes, Nematogenys) and characin fish (Piranhas). Lung
fishes are represented by Lepidosiren paradoxa found in Amazon River.

            The fauna of Neotropical Region is rich in endemic families; almost 40 families are
endemic out of 155 families of vertebrates. Other fauna is shared with Nearctic and other
tropics.
Ethiopian region:
The old world counterpart of the Neotropical is the Ethiopian, which includes the continent of
Africa, south of the Atlas Mountain and Sahara Desert, Southern Arabia, Madagascar and
Mauritius. It embraces tropical forests in central Africa and in the mountains of East Africa,
Savanna, grasslands and deserts. It includes a varied vertebrate fauna and several endemic
families.

This region includes continental Africa south of Sahara desert. This is mainly a tropical
region having evergreen forests and grasslands in the central and eastern parts. There is desert
in the north.
 Mammals. There are 38 families of mammals, out of which 12 are exclusive and the rest are
shared with Neotropical and Oriental Regions.
            Animals having worldwide distribution include shrews, rabbits, squirrels, cricetid
mice, dogs, mired mice, cats and bovids, antilopes.
            The exclusive animals include giraffes, hippopotamus, Aardvark or Cape anteater
belonging to Tubulidentata, rock hyrax (Hyracoidea), golden mole (Chrysochloridae),
elephant shrew, small deer-like water chevrotain, aye-aye, bushbabies and lemurs in
Madagascar. There are 6 endemic families of rodents and 3 of insectivores.
            There are no camels, bears and tigers in this region.
            Animals shared with Oriental are, lorises, monkeys, apes, pangolins, Cheetah,
elephants and rhinoceroses.
            Shared with Palaearctic are dormice, jerboa (Dipodidae), wild horses.
 Aves. Bird fauna has affinities with Oriental Region. There are cuckoos, woodpeckers,
hornbill, sunbirds, herons, orioles, birds of prey, storks, parrots, pigeons, fowls, pitta, guinea
fowl, hornbill, swallows and bee-eaters.
            There are 6 exclusive families that include ostrich, secretary bird (Secretariidae),
hammer head that feed on frogs and fish, crested touracos (Turacidae), ground hornbill,
mouse birds and helmet shrike. Honey guide feeds on honey bee larvae and guides honey
collecting tribals to bee hives. Two species of oxpeckers, namely, yellow billed and red billed
feed on ticks and other ectoparasites of rhinoceroses. The crocodile bird dares to enter the
mouth of crocodiles to feed on leeches.
Reptiles. Crocodiles and turtles abound and few lizards belong to families Lacertidae and
Agamidae. Iguanid horned lizards are absent. Spiny lizard of family Cordylidae is restricted
to this region. Chameleon also occurs in the Oriental Region. Snakes include pythons,
Typhlops and biting vipers. Crocodiles include, Crocodylus noloticus, Osteolaemus in West
Africa and Osteoblepharon in Congo.
Amphibia. There are no urodeles but frogs and toads abound such as the African ridged frog
and African shovel-nosed frog. Family Hylidae of tree frogs is absent, replaced by
Polypedatidae. The flying frog is the African rhacophorid. Genera Rana and Bufo are absent.
Phrynomerid tree frogs are endemic. Xenopus and aquatic clawed toads present. Limbless
amphibians are present.
Fishes. Lung fishes have two species of Protopterus that live in the rivers and lakes of
tropics. Chondrostei is represented by 10 species of Bichir (Polypterus). Electric eel of family
Mormyridae has electric organs in tail. There are cat fishes, carps, characins and generally the
fish fauna is diverse.
            Fauna shows overwhelming similarity with the Oriental Region.

Oriental region:
It includes India, Indochina, South China, Malaya, and the western islands of the Malay
Archipelago. It is bounded on the north by the Himalayas and on the other sides by the Indian
and Pacific oceans on the southeast corner, where the islands of the Malay Archipelago
stretch out toward Australia, there is no definite boundary, although Wallace’s line is often
used to separate the Oriental from the Australian regions.

This line runs between the Philippines and the Moluccas in the north, then bends southwest
between Borneo and the Celebes, then south between the islands of Bali and Lombok.

A second line, Weber’s line, has been drawn to the east of Wallace’s line; it separates the
islands with a majority of Oriental animals from those with a majority of Australian ones.
Since the islands between these two lines form a transition between the Oriental and the
Australian regions, some zoogeographical the area Wallace (Smith, 1977).

The Oriental region is divided into the following four sub- regions: Indian sub-region,
Ceylonese sub-region, Indo-Chinese sub region and Indo-Malayan sub-region.

Mammals. There are 30 families of mammals out of which 5 are endemic that include
Cynocephalus (=Galeopithecus), which is called Calugo, a gliding mammal with furred
membrane stretched between fore limb and hind limb. Tree shrews (Tupaiidae) and arboreal
tarsiers (Tarsiidae) of Philippines are restricted primates. Spiny dormouse is arboreal rodent.
            Twenty five percent of the fauna is shared with Africa that includes, old world
monkeys, lorises, apes (Gibbon and Orang-Utan), pangolin or scaly anteater (Manis), bamboo
rat (Rhizomyidae), Elephant (Elephas maximus), Rhinoceros unicornis and a lion population
in Gir forest.
            Fauna shared with Palaearctic includes hedgehog, porcupine, civets, Lynx, hyenas,
pigs, bear (Ursus arctos), red panda.
                Tapir (Tapirus) found in Sumatra and Borneo is Neotropical element.
            There are moles, tapirs, bears and deers which are absent in Africa.
 
Aves.  Out of 66 families of birds 53 are eurytopic or widespread. Woodpeckers and barbets
are widespread. There are also peacocks, argus pheasants, cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis) and
jungle fowl.
            Sunbirds, hornbills, parrots and cuckoos and shared with Africa.
            Shared with Palaearctic are pheasants.
            Exclusive birds are fairy blue bird (Irena puella) which is found in Philippines where
it follows troupes of monkeys to feed on insects disturbed by their movement.  There are 4
genera and 14 species of leaf birds.
            Whitehead’s trogon (Harpactes whiteheadi) is found in Indonesia and monkey-eating
eagle is endangered species found in the dense forests of Philippines.
 
Reptiles. There are plenty of lizards, turtles, poisonous snakes, pythons and crocodiles.
Lizards belong to Agamidae and Varanidae and include geckos, skinks, calotes, draco and
chameleon. There are king cobras, common cobras, typhlops, xenopeltid snakes, uropeltid
snakes and sea snakes (Hydophidae).
            Crocodiles include Crocodylus porosus, C. palustris, Gavialis gangeticus. Tomistoma
is found in Sumatra and Borneo. Alligator sinensis is found in southern China.
Amphibia. Frogs and toads bound. Caecilians are represented by Ichthyophis and
Gegenophis found in Indo-Malayan region. Tree frogs belong to family Polypedatidae and
Hylidae family is absent. Flying frog, Rhacophorus malabaricus found in Western Ghats in
India. Tailed Amphibia are few and found in northern Indo-china.
            Fire-bellied toads are exclusive and extend to Palaearctic range.
  
Fishes. Fishes are dominated by carps and catfishes (Cypriniformes). Loaches, mullets and
mud-eels are exclusive to this region. One species of the Chondrostean paddlefish
(Polyodon) occurs in Yangtze River of China. Another species of this group occurs in
American rivers.
            Fauna shows similarity with the Ethiopian Region because of their proximity and
similar environmental conditions.
Australian region:
This region includes Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, and a few smaller islands of the
Malay Archipelago. New Zealand and the Pacific Islands are excluded, for these are regarded
as oceanic islands separate from the major faunal regions.

Partly tropical and partly south temperate, the Australian region is noted for its lack of a land
connection with other regions; the poverty of fresh water fish, amphibians and reptiles; the
absence of placental mammals and dominance of marsupials.

Mammals. Eight of the 9 families of marsupials are unique. There are 52 genera of 6 families
of marsupials that are unique and are not found in the Neotropical Region. Marsupials show
parallelism with their counterpart placentals in other parts of the world in their evolutionary
modifications.
            Placental mammals that were introduced by man or some of them immigrated
themselves include rodents and bats, rabbits, foxes, rats, mice, dingo dogs, cats, pigs and
murid mice.
            Monotremes are represented by Ornythorhynchus and Echidna.
 
Birds. There are 58 families of birds out of which 44 are widely distributed. Species having
wide range are trogons (Harpactes), hawks, kingfisher, cuckoos, parrots and pigeons.
            Shared with Oriental are frogmouths, wood-swallows, flowerpeckers and megapods.
            There are 10 families of endemic birds which include cassowary, emu, kiwi, lyrebird,
bower birds, honey suckers, birds of paradise, magapods and cookabura or laughing jackass
that feeds on lizards and snakes.
            Birds not present are pheasants, finches, barbets and woodpeckers.
 
Reptiles. There are pythons, biting snakes, elepid coral snakes, geckos, skinks, agamid
lizards, scale-footed lizard (Pygopus) and Komodo Dragon (Varanidae), crocodiles and
turtles. Chelyd turtles and snake-necked turtles (Chelodina) possess strikingly long necks.
Sphenodon pounctatus is found exclusively in New Zealand.
 
Amphibia. There are no tailed amphibians. Common toads are absent and frogs are few. Tree
frogs belong to family Hylidae which is also found in the New World and Palaearctic but
absent in African and Oriental Regions. The Australian Green Tree Frog secretes mosquito
repellent compound from the skin glands. The Australian frogs, Rheobatrachus silus and  R.
vitellinus carry tadpoles in their stomachs. Some species of frogs are adapted to live in
deserts, e.g. Notaden, Neobatrachus and Helioporus.
 
Fishes. Fresh water fishes are rare and belong to family Osteoglossidae. Lung fish
(Neoceratodus) is restricted to Burnett and Mary rivers in Queensland.
           
            Fauna of this region is poor in freshwater fishes, Amphibia and reptiles. There is
uniqueness of mammals and affinities exist with the Oriental and South American faunas.

Life Zones, Biotic Provinces and Biomes:

Each major distributional unit (i.e., Palearctic, etc.) is further subdivided by secondary
barriers such as vegetation types and topography. The life-zone concept, restricted to North
American, divides the continent into broad transcontinental belts: the plant and animal
differences between these belts are governed chiefly by temperature.

The biotic provinces approach divides the North American continent into continuous
geographic units that contain ecological associations different from those of adjacent units,
especially at the species and subspecies levels. The biome system groups the plants and
animals of the world into integral units characterized by distinctive life forms in the climax.

Boundaries of biomes or major life zones coincide with the boundaries of the major plant
formations of the world. Thus, by including both plants and animals as a total unit that
evolved together, the biome permits the recognition of the close relationship that exists
among all living things.
 CONTINENTAL DRIFT

        The theory that the present day position of continents is not permanent but the
continents constantly drift and change positions, was first proposed by Alfred Wegener
(1904, 1912, 1924) who from close studies of maps, discovered that coastlines of all
continents fitted together like a jigsaw puzzle, suggesting that all continents in the past were
placed together in a mass of supercontinent. Wegener believed that continents were made of
light material called Sial (made of silica and aluminium) that floated over a heavier material
Sima (made of silica and Magnesium) that makes ocean floors, like icebergs floating in
ocean water.
          Later, in 1937, A.L. Du Toit elaborated on this theory in his book, On Wandering
Continents, which explained many of the puzzles of discontinuous distribution of animals.
But it was much later in the late 1960s that detailed studies of ocean floors revealed that the
earth’s crust, which is made of hard rocks and soil, is only 30-60 km thick and is broken into
several plates that float over the molten mass of the interior of earth that is constantly in
circulation. The theory is now known as The plate tectonic theory which postulates that the
continental plates move at a very slow pace to change positions that can be measured in
thousands of kilometres.  
            The innermost part of earth is called Barysphere or core or nife which is about 4,400
km in diameter, surrounding which is Pyrosphere or mantle, which is 2,500 km thick molten
mass and like a wrapper is a thin crust or Lithosphere of only 30-60 km thickness that is
made of rocks and soil and which supports life on its surface.
          Continents move because the crust is broken into blocks or plates that float on the hot
molten lava of mantle that keeps in circulation due to slow convection currents produced by
the heat emanating from barysphere or core. Due to this heat the molten basalt rises upwards
and spreads horizontally just under the crust and cools down. hen there are subduction zones
where the crust sinks down and melts into the mantle due to the pressure of spreading sea
floor. This process of spreading and sinking of the earth’s crust makes the continental plates
move.  
 
            During the Cambrian period major land masses occurred south of equator and Africa,
South America, Australia, Antarctica and parts of Asia formed a single continental mass,
Gondwanaland, that extended up to the South Pole but the position of continents was reverse
of what it is today.  There are evidences of major mountain building in North America and
Europe and of glaciation during Devonian period, when much of Gondwanaland was covered
with ice sheets. There was sharp decrease in the atmospheric CO 2 during this period perhaps
because of invasion of land by plants. Invasion of land by plants attracted invertebrates and
then vertebrates on land, pioneers among them must have been detrivores rather than plant
feeders, such as springtails, millipedes and mites. 
 
            By Carboniferous period even the northern land masses started to move southwards to
join Gondwanaland, forming a single supercontinent called Pangaea towards the end of this
period. Most of the present day coal beds were formed when these forests were buried during
this period (carboniferous means coal-bearing). High levels of atmospheric oxygen, low
levels of CO2 and abundance of food enabled invertebrates to diversify and become
giants. Pangaea continued to exist till Permian when it again broke and started to drift apart.
 
            During Permian, about 270 million years ago, a single large continent Pangaea started
to split into two land masses, the northern Laurasia and southern Gondwanaland, separated
by the sea of Tethys. The splitting perhaps caused what is known as the worst mass extinction
in the history of evolution. 
 
            During Jurassic, the continental masses began to break up leading to the formation of
Atlantic Ocean. Americas began to drift westward, Antarctica and Australia southwards and
India towards the northeast. 
           North and South Americas were connected together by a narrow corridor, through
which migrated reptiles and primitive mammals. Towards the end of Cretaceous some
catastrophe struck the earth resulting in another mass extinction and extermination of the
most powerful of all animals that ever existed-the dinosaurs. 
 
            During Eocene, North and South Americas got disconnected by the submergence of
panama connection, isolating the South American continents from the others for a very long
time. Almost at the same time North America also got disconnected from Europe for ever,
although a filter bridge may have existed between the two continents for some time.
 
            During Miocene Indian plate had moved sufficiently northwards to collide with the
Eurasian plate, obliterating the Sea of Tethys and starting a process of mountain-building
that continued well into the Pliocene. In the beginning, the rising Himalayas did not produce
an effective barrier between the Palaearctic and Oriental Regions but they gradually rose to
great heights of today and effectively checked the movement of animals between the two
regions.