REGIONAL BIOGEOGRAPHY

Terrestrial Zoogeography

[The taxa listed are 'characteristic' not endemic unless so listed. Often they occur in more than a single region

The distributions given here are for modern distributions and do not take into account areas where the group is now extinct]

REALM

Region

Subregion

I. ARCTOGAEA

A. Palaearctic: Eurasia including Iceland, Canary Islands, North Africa, Korea and
Japan)

Mammals: 28 families – 4 shared with Nearctic and 4 with Ethiopian.
Two endemic families: Spalacidae and Seleviniidae – both myomorph rodents

Birds: 69 breeding families, one endemic family - Prunellidae

Reptiles: few – no endemic families

Amphibians: many urodeles

Fish: Dominant family is carp (shared with Nearctic and Ethiopian),
salmon, pike, perch, sticklebacks

Subregions: European; Mediterranean; Siberian; Manchurian

B. Nearctic; North America (Including Florida and California peninsulas),
Greenland and the Mexican Plateau

Mammals: 4 families shared with Palaearctic, 4 with Neotropical. Four endemic families
3 rodents (pocket gophers, pocket mice, sewellel) and the pronghorn

Birds: 1 endemic family Meleagrididae – Wild turkey

Reptiles: Snapping and musk turtles and terrapins, garter and rattlesnakes,
gila monster endemic

Amphibians: ambystomid axolotl, Ascaphus – a primitive anuran
(related to Liopelma of New Zealand)

Fish: Holostean garpike and bowfin, Bass restricted to North America.

Subregions: California; Central Mountains; Eastern; Subarctic

C. Palaeotropical

1. Ethiopian Africa, south of the Sahara

Mammals: 14 endemic families – no cervids or ursids

Birds: 9 endemic families e.g. ostrich, Guinea fowl, secretary bird

Fish: lungfish – Protopterus, also cichlids, mormyrids and polypterids

Subregions: East African; West African; South African; Mascarene

2. Oriental

Mammals: 9 endemic genera, e.g. Panda, flying lemurs (also in Mascarene), gibbons

Birds: 2 endemic families

Reptiles: 1 endemic family, Gavials

Fish: Catfishes and carps common

Subregions: Indian; Ceylonese; Indo-Chinese; Malayan

II NEOTROPICAL

Neotropical: South and Central America and the Antilles

Mammals: 32 families excluding bats; 16 endemic families, 1 endemic (almost) order -
edentata

Birds: 2 endemic orders = 50% of the families are endemic, 86 families

Reptiles: Anacondas; Caimans are endemic

Amphibians: Mostly Anurans

Fish: Lungfish is Lepidosiren, Characins, Gymnotids

Subregions: Chilean mountains; Brazilian forest; Mexican coastal lowlands;
West Indian

III AUSTRALIAN

Australian: Australia, New Guinea, Tasmania (not New Zealand)

Mammals:9 families (8 are endemic (only 1 is placental) 6 marsupial families and 2
monotreme families

Birds: 58 families 15 are endemic e.g. Cassowaries, Bowerbirds

Reptiles: 1 endemic turtle

Amphibians: No urodeles, no toads

Fish: Lungfish is Neoceratodus; primary division freshwater fishes generally absent