ZOOGEOGRAPHIC REGIONS

History

Faunal regions proposed by Alfred Russel Wallace, co-discover of the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection

Zoogeographic Regions

Comparisons of the Mammals of the Faunal Regions [Fig. 36.2]

1. Palearctic (PA)
   1. Europe, North Africa (to Sahara), Asia (except India, Pakistan and SE Asia) and Middle East.
   2. Number of families = 42; endemics = 0
2. Nearctic (NA)
   1. Canada, USA, Mexico to tropics
   2. Number of families = 37; endemics = 2.

Holarctic is Palearctic plus Nearctic

3. Neotropical (NT)
   1. tropical Mexico south to South America, plus the Antilles
   2. Number of families = 50; endemics = 19.
4. Ethiopian (ET)
   1. Madagascar, Africa south of the Sahara, southern Arabian Peninsula
   2. Number of families = 52; endemics = 18.
5. Oriental (OR)
   1. Pakistan, India, Southeast Asia, Phillipines, Indonesia west of Wallace's line (Sumatra, Java, Borneo)
   2. Number of families = 50; endemics = 4.
6. Australian (AU)
   1. Australia, New Guinea, Tasmania, Indonesian Islands east of Wallace's line (Celebes, Timor, etc.)
   2. NOTE: does not include New Zealand
   3. Number of families = 28; endemics = 17.
7. Oceanic
   1. Oceans of the world and truely oceanic, isolated, small islands

Zoogeographic Regions from Radford University

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