The Foundations of the Origin of Species: Two Essays written in 1842 and 1844Darwin, Charles
Philosophy
The Foundations of the Origin of Species: Two Essays written in 1842 and 1844
Darwin, Charles
Evolution (Biology); Natural selection
If, however, we look closer, we shall find that even Australia, in
possessing a terrestrial Pachyderm, was so far less distinct from the
rest of the world than it now is; so was S. America in possessing the
Mastodon, horse, [hyaena,]{392} and antelope. N. America, as I have
remarked, is now, in its mammifers, in some respects neutral ground
between S. America and the great Africo-Asiatic division; formerly, in
possessing the horse, Mastodon and three Megatheroid animals, it was
more nearly related to S. America; but in the horse and Mastodon, and
likewise in having the elephant, oxen, sheep, and pigs, it was as much,
if not more, related to the Africo-Asiatic division. Again, northern
India was much more closely related (in having the giraffe,
hippopotamus, and certain musk-deer) to southern Africa than it now is;
for southern and eastern Africa deserve, if we divide the world into
five parts, to make one division by itself. Turning to the dawn of the
Tertiary period, we must, from our ignorance of other portions of the
world, confine ourselves to Europe; and at that period, in the presence
of Marsupials{393} and Edentata, we behold an _entire_ blending of those
mammiferous forms which now eminently characterise Australia and S.
America{394}.
{392} The word _hyaena_ is erased. There appear to be no fossil
Hyaenidae in S. America.
{393} See note 1{390}, p. 175, also _Origin_, Ed. i. p. 340, vi. p. 486.
{394} <Note by the author.> And see Eocene European mammals in
N. America.
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