Madagascan region

Madagascar is so different from the continent of Africa that it is generally given equal status as a separate region (Figure 2). Mammalian families shared with the African mainland (Paleotropical realm) include Tenrecidae (tenrecs and otter shrews) and Hippopotamidae (hippopotamuses, which have recently become extinct in Madagascar). Madagascar also shares some groups with the Neotropical realm, notably iguanas and boas, which the rest of the Paleotropical realm presumably lost during the Paleogene and Neogene periods (65.5 million to 2.6 million years ago). Madagascan endemics include, among mammals, several families of lemurs. Distinctive subgroups of tenrec insectivores, carnivores, and murid rodents also are endemic, as are the avian family Aepyornithidae (the recently extinct elephant birds) and other subfamilies and families of birds. Familiar African mainland animals, such as monkeys, antelopes, elephants, rhinoceroses, and big cats, are absent.

Seychelles and the Mascarene Islands have distant Madagascan affinities and are generally included in the Madagascan region.

Oriental region

Endemic families in the Oriental, or Sino-Indian, region include, among mammals, the Tupaiidae (tree shrews), Tarsiidae (tarsiers), and Hylobatidae (gibbons); among reptiles, the Lanthanotidae (earless monitor lizards) and Gavialidae (the crocodile-like gharials); and a few bird and invertebrate families.

The three-way boundary between the Oriental and Afrotropical regions and the Holarctic realm is difficult to define; essentially the entire area of Southwest Asia is transitional (Figure 2). Certain areas within this span, however, are more clear-cut: the Negev and the Red Sea coast of Arabia are predominantly Afrotropical, while Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan show decreasing Afrotropical affinities as well as links to the Holarctic. A distinctive desert fauna, often referred to as Saharo-Sindian, unites the entire region and has been allocated by different authorities to any one of the three regions.

Mammalian specialists such as G.B. Corbet place the approximate boundary between the Oriental region and the Holarctic in central China; however, Banarescu extends what he calls the Sino-Indian region north to include the Tien Shan mountain system, Tibet, and the Huang Ho, based on evidence of freshwater fish and invertebrates.

Much debate has centred around the dividing line between the Oriental region and the Australian (Notogaean) realm. Wallace considered the edge of the continental shelf of Asia (the Sunda Shelf) to form the border of this region, and Wallace’s Line is the demarcation, east of Borneo, Bali, and the Philippines, of the “typical” Oriental fauna (Figure 5). The basis for this division is the striking difference between faunas to the east and west of the line. Subsequent debate has continued for generations about the position of this boundary. The northern part of the line was altered by T.H. Huxley to fall to the west of the Philippines (excluding Palawan). Huxley’s line is considered a more appropriate delineation by some zoogeographers (e.g., G.G. Simpson) because the Philippines has a highly idiosyncratic fauna.

Wallacea

The famous zoogeographic transition zone called Wallacea is located in central Indonesia. This zone, usually included in the Paleotropical realm, is bounded to the west by Huxley’s Line (or a variation thereof) and to the east by Lydekker’s Line (Figure 5), which runs along the border of Australia’s continental shelf (the Sahul Shelf); it includes a mixture of Oriental and Australian fauna. Weber’s Line (Figure 5), which runs west of the Moluccas, represents the area where the two types of fauna are equally mixed. No comparable floral division is apparent (compare Figure 3). Celebes and the Philippines excepting Palawan, which is Oriental, contain somewhat unbalanced faunas. Most of these faunas are generically distinct from their Oriental relatives, although some, such as those of Celebes, include a few Australian elements. Flores, in the Lesser Sundas, has, or had, a very few but distinctive genera, as did Timor. In the Moluccas the faunal affinities are clearly with New Guinea.

Australian region

The Australian region proper includes Australia, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands (Figure 2). Bird orders such as Rheiformes (rheas) and Casuariiformes (cassowaries) and families such as Menuridae (lyrebirds) and Paradisaeidae (birds-of-paradise) are endemic to the region, which is the only part of the Notogaean realm that contains any mammals, except bats. The inclusion of New Guinea in this region is interesting; the New Guinean fauna comprises the rainforest aspect of the Australian fauna. The disparity in the biological affinities of this large island exemplifies perhaps one of the most striking differences between phytogeography and zoogeography. (As mentioned above, the flora of New Guinea is classified as Paleotropical, but the fauna is not included in the comparable faunal realm; see The distribution boundaries of flora and fauna.)

Oceanic region

This region (Figure 2) is poorly defined. It contains some localized endemics, notably the bird family Rhynochetidae (kagu) in New Caledonia. Much of the fauna, especially birds, is of demonstrable Australian affinity.

New Zealand region

The New Zealand region (Figure 2) includes all of New Zealand, excluding aspects of the fauna of the southwest, which shows an Antarctic element. Flightless birds inhabit both New Zealand and Australia, although the order Dinornithiformes (kiwis and moas) is endemic to New Zealand. Other endemic taxa include the snail family Athoracophoridae; New Zealand’s only mammals, the bat family Mystacinidae; Xenicidae (New Zealand wrens); Leiopelmatidae (a primitive family of frogs); and Sphenodontidae (tuatara, a primitive reptile family).

Hawaiian region

The Hawaiian region (Figure 2) consists of Hawaii and boasts a few endemic invertebrate families and one avian family, Drepanididae (Hawaiian honeycreepers).