The History of the European FaunaScharff, R. F. (Robert Francis)
History
The History of the European Fauna
Scharff, R. F. (Robert Francis)
Animals -- Europe; Zoogeography
What has been spoken of in the earlier parts of this book as the eastern
migration, refers in a general way to the animals which have come to
England from the east. But these are by no means natives of one country
alone. We can trace a number of the British mammals to a Siberian
origin, and also some birds; among many of the lower vertebrates and
invertebrates, however, there are few species which have reached us from
Siberia. They may have had their original homes in the Alps, in Eastern
Europe, or in Central and Southern Asia, and have joined in their
westward course the later, more quickly travelling mammals. Many
instances are given from all the more important groups of animals to
show how we may proceed in approximately identifying the home of a
species.
The periodical invasion into our continent of Pallas's Sandgrouse and
other birds, suggests an explanation as to the cause of the great
westward migration in former times of the Siberian mammals. Since a
considerable amount of fossil evidence is available to show the path of
migration pursued by these mammals, other important problems, such as
the time of their arrival in Europe and the geographical conditions
surrounding them, may perhaps be approximately ascertained, and thus
throw much light on the general features of the European fauna. It has
been proved by Professor Nehring that the Siberian mammals arrived in
Eastern Europe after the deposition of the lower continental
boulder-clay. He believes that the climate of Germany at that time had
ameliorated so far, after the maximum cold of the Glacial period, that
steppes with a Siberian fauna could exist. Other groups, such as the
Mollusca, however, do not support Professor Nehring's theory, and in
order to arrive at an independent solution of this and the other
problems referred to, a short history is given of the Siberian fauna.
Recent geological ages have witnessed the arrival in Southern Europe of
mammals now almost confined to the arctic and subarctic regions. In
Siberia, on the other hand, many southern species penetrated, apparently
about the same time, to the extreme northern limits of that country. The
greatest authority on the Siberian fossil fauna, Tcherski, believes that
this took place in pliocene times, the gradual retreat occupying the
whole of the Glacial period. If this were correct, the retreat from the
Arctic Regions would have occurred at the same time when, according to
our European authorities, Professors Nehring and Geikie, the much more
southern parts of our continent were already uninhabitable. But Siberia
could not have supported the large mammals at all at a time when Europe
was uninhabitable, as it would be difficult to conceive under what
geographical conditions the climate of the latter was arctic and that of
the former temperate. If the whole fauna was driven into Southern Asia,
how is it that the Siberian invasion of Europe occurred immediately
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account