Abstract
SINCE this elaborate piece of work embodies the results of the biological investigations undertaken by the Messrs. Sarasin in Ceylon during a protracted period, it has good claim to rank as the most authoritative attempt to explain the origin and relationships of the fauna of that island yet published. It is, however, really more than this, as it embraces a survey of the relationships and probable migrations of the faunas of south-eastern Asia generally, and their connection with that of Africa. Very valuable are the details given with regard to the geographical range of the various genera of mammals, reptiles, molluscs, planarians, and worms constituting the Ceylon fauna. Ceylon, which long formed a portion of “Gondwanaland,” and is thus of great antiquity, appears to have been isolated from the Indian mainland during the whole or the greater portion of the Pleistocene period.
Über die Geschichte der Tierwelt von Ceylon.
By F. Sarasin. Zool. Jährbucher, suppl. 12, part i. Pp. 160. (Jena: G. Fischer, 1910.) Price 7 marks.
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L., R. Über die Geschichte der Tierwelt von Ceylon . Nature 83, 363 (1910). https://doi.org/10.1038/083363a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/083363a0