Page:Mammals of Australia (Gould), introduction.djvu/20

 this work is intended to illustrate) was a sealed book to him. As regards this great country, it may be said that its most highly organized animals, if we except the Seals, are the various species of Rodents, and the equally numerous insectivorous and frugivorous Bats, both of which rank among the lowest of the Placentals. In America the Marsupialia are but feebly represented; in Africa and India none of this form exist. On the other hand, Australia is the great country of these pouched animals; they are universally distributed throughout its entire extent, from north to south, and from east to west; and they are not even absent from the neighbouring islands. Their presence in Tasmania on the south, and New Guinea on the north, testifies that these countries were formerly united to the mainland, and constituted a great natural province, characterized by a similar fauna and flora. It will be unnecessary for me to state that none of the Quadrumana, or Monkeys, are found in Australia; and that neither the Lion, the Tiger, the Leopard, nor any other of the Felinæ, roam among its forests, to disturb the harmony of its generally peaceful quadrupeds.

The great groups of the Bovinæ, or Oxen, the Equinæ, or Horses and Zebras, the stately Elephant, the huge Rhinoceros, as well as the Cervidæ, or Deer-kind, and the Antelopes, are totally unknown in Australia; yet the great grassy plains and other physical features of the country would appear to be well adapted for them and also for the smaller herbivorous quadrupeds, such as the Hare, the Rabbit, &c. Why there should occur so great a difference between the animals of Australia and those of the other countries of the world it is not for me to say. But I may ask, has creation been arrested in this strange land? and, if not, why are these higher types denied to it? Whatever opinion may be formed on this interesting subject, it is generally believed that no more highly organized animals than those which are now found there ever roamed over her plains or tenanted her luxuriant brushes. At the same time, the partially fossilized remains of distinct species of Kangaroos which have been