zoogeography and animal distribution

1. Zoogeography and
Factors affecting animal
distribution
Dr.Nirbhay Sudhir Pimple
Department of Zoology
AbasahebGarware College,
Karveroad.Pune-4.

2. Zoogeography
• Branch of biology concerned with the distribution of
all the animals, invertebrates and vertebrates, the
terrestrial and aquatic, over the whole world.
• Distribution can be studied at 3 levels-
Geographical (over the whole world)
Regional (in selected segments of the world)
Local (geographical distribution of a species in relation to
each other and in relation to ecology and evolution)

3. Philip Sclater (1858) and Alfred Wallace (1876)
identified the main zoogeographic regions of the
world used today-
1. Palearctic region
2. Nearctic region
3. Neotropical region
4. Ethiopian region
5. Oriental region
6. Australian region

5. Palearcticregion

6. • Includes northern part of Old World. Extends over whole of Europe, China, Japan, North
Sahara, Siberia, Mediterranean Sea zone of North Africa and Manchuria, south-west Asia,
North of Himalayas and the north ofArabia.
• Bounded by sea to the west, east and north and by Sahara and Himalayas to the south.
• Climate is chiefly temperate with an arctic fringe.
• Includes both wet and dry open Steppe land, large areas of coniferous forests and a fringe of
tundra; deciduous forest; wide variation of temperature and great fluctuation in rainfall.
• Fauna exhibits variations in the climatic and vegetational subdivisions. It is richest in warmer
areas and diminishes northward.
• This region possesses a total of 135 families of terrestrial vertebrates
mammals, 68 birds, 24 reptiles, 10 amphibian , 13 freshwater fishes.)
• Subdivided into –
(33 families of
 European sub region
 Mediterranean sub region
 Siberian sub region
 Manchurian sub region

7. Llama
Red
panda
Moos
e
European
salamander
Giant Asian salamander
Chinese alligator

8. Hedge sparrow
Rhacophorus sp.
Heron
Red fox
Giant panda

9. Nearcticregion

10. • Includes North America above tropics, Greenland, Iceland and Mexican
plateau.
• Except for a narrow strip of Central America it is completely cut off from all
other regions by sea.
• Resembles Palearctic region in climatic conditions.
• Exhibits extreme variations in temperature and varied climatic conditions.
• Has extensive mountain ranges in the west running from north to south.
• North is the arctic belt of Greenland, followed by coniferous belts,
deciduous or mixed forests, extensive grasslands and arid zones.
• The region is much less rich in fauna than other regions, mainly transitional
representing a mixture of fauna of Palearctic and Neotropical regions.
(26 families of
• This region possesses a total of 120 families of vertebrates
mammals, 4 birds, 21 reptiles, 14 amphibian , 24 fishes.)
• Subdivided into-
• Californian sub region
• Rocky Mountain sub region
• Alleghany sub region
• Canadian sub region

11. Pocket gopher
Pocket mouse
Kangaroo rat
Prongho
rn
Shre
w
Turkey
Garpik
e
Bowfi
n

12. Axolotl
Musk turtle
Pit
viper Gila monster
American
salamander
Flying
squirrel
Red
deer
Beave
r

13. Neotropicalregion

14. • Includes South America, Central America, tropical lowland of South
Mexico and West Indies.
• Presents tropical conditions except southern part of South America
which constitutes south temperate zones.
• Extensive rain forests or evergreen forests are found in Amazon valley,
tracts of dry forests or grassy plains in Savannah and Argentina, and
sub-desert areas are present in western South America.
• West has long range of Andes which has high mountains.
• Fauna is both distinctive and varied.
• Rich in endemic families of all classes.
• The region has 155 families of terrestrial vertebrates, out of which 33
are endemic.
• Subdivided into –
• Chilean sub region
• Brazilian sub region
• Mexican sub region
• Antillean sub region

15. Tapir
Anteater
Armadillo
Sloth
Opossums
Electric eel

16. Marmoset
Tarmarin
Paca
Rhea
Tree porcupine
Agouti
Toucan
Curasso
ws
Cock-of-the-
rock

17. Ethiopianregion

18. • Includes Africa south of Sahara, Madagascar and SouthArabia.
• Has land continuity with its northern neighbor (Palearctic) but the
Sahara desert acts as an effective barrier between the two. Remaining
sides are surrounded by sea.
• Africa is a tropical country. It has large blocks of lofty evergreen
forests in the equatorial region, mountainous region and wide grassy
plains in the eastern part. Southern part is warm temperate with mixed
vegetation.
• Vertebrate fauna is rich and well marked with a number of endemic
genera and families present because of extensive equatorial forests
and swamps as well as grasslands.
• There are 161 families of terrestrial vertebrates in this region.
• Subdivided into-
• East African sub region
• WestAfrican sub region
• South African sub region
• Malagasy sub region

19. Slender loris Hippopotamus
Gorilla
Baboon

20. Ostrich
Typhlops
sp.
African elephant
Giraffe Spiny lizard
Black bear

21. Aardvark
Golde
n
mole
African
lungfish
Turacos
sp.
Xenopus
sp.

22. Orientalregion

23. • Includes India, south of Himalayas, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java,
Philippines and South China.
• Bounded by Himalayas in the north and in the west separated from Palearctic by
mountains and desert of eastern Iran, but there is no physical boundary in the south-
east corner.
• Known for its varied physical features.
• Northern India is temperate, eastern part including Myanmar and N.E. Asia has rain
forests; western penninsula is part desert and southern part of India has tropical
forests.
• Fauna exhibits considerable resemblance with that of Ethiopianregion.
• Subdivided into-
• Indian sub region
• Indo- China sub region
• Ceylonese sub region
• Indo-malayan sub region

24. Gavialis sp.
Oranguta
n Big-headed
turtle
Gibbons Colugo

25. Peacoc
k
One horned rhinoceros
Shield tail

26. Indian elephant
Tree
shre
w
Tarsie
r
Spiny dormouse

27. Australianregion

28. • Includes Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, Tasmania,
Moluccas and neighboring islands.
• Region is partly tropical and partly temperate.
• New Guinea is tropical and mostly covered with rain forests.
• Northern part of Australia is tropical but most of the interior is arid.
• Tasmania is cool and temperate.
• Fauna is unique and primitive.
• Most peculiar feature is the absence of higher placental mammals
and the region contains many primitive forms, marsupials and
monotremes are found only in this region.
• Subdivided into-
• Austro-malayan sub region
• Australian sub region
• Polynesian sub region
• New Zealand

29. Marsupial mouse Marsupial mole
Flying phalanger
Kangaroo
Wombat
Spiny anteater
Australian lungfish
Skink
Tiger snake

30. Duck billed platypus
Cockato
o
Loris
Pygmy parrot
Cassowary
Emu
Honey
sucker
Lyre
bird

31. AnimalDistribution
Two aspects of animal
distribution-
Distribution of animals in space
Geographical distribution
Bathymetric distribution
Distribution of animals in time or geological distribution
Patterns of animal distribution-
1. Cosmopolitan distribution
2. Discontinuous distribution
3. Bipolar distribution

32. Factorsaffectingdistribution
• Animal are found to occupy all diverse habitats wherever life is possible
but the animals found in different regions, different areas and different
localities are not identical.
• These exhibit several complications in their distribution pattern.
• The irregularities in distribution are mainly on account of faulty or non-
uniform dispersal of animals which is governed by severalfactors.
• These factors which control or check migration and dispersal of animals are
known as barriers.

33. Barrierstodispersal
• Barriers are the factors which hinder in the normal distribution of animals.
• Maybe either vast tracks of territory inhospitable to a species or narrow
bands of environment that may act as narrow fences, preventing species
migration to new regions.
• All natural barriers can be categorized into 3 categories-
 Physical barriers
 Climatic barriers
 Biological barriers

34. Physical barriers
iii.
i. Topographical barriers
ii. Large bodies of water and
land masses
Impurity and lack of salinity
of sea water, and
iv. Vegetative barriers
v. Sheer distance
Mozambique
Channel

35. ClimaticorEcologicalbarriers
i. Temperature
ii. Moisture
iii. Amount of light
Biologicalbarriers
i. Sedentary habit
ii. Home range or territoriality

36. Meansofdispersal
i. Natural rafts and driftwoods
ii. Wind
iii. Storms
iv. Land bridges
v. Transportation by animals capable of
flight
vi. Human agency

37. ThankYou!