CHAP. V.]
SPECIES RESTRICTED TO COLD REGIONS.
101
with those which enjoy the cold climate of the mountains not far removed from the snow line, viz.—
Snowy vole ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
Alpine marmot ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
Chamois ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
Ibex ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
|
Arvicola nivalis, Martins.
|
Arctomys marmotta, Schreb.
|
Antilope rupricapra, Pal.
|
|
The first of these, now not found at a lower level than 3000 feet above the sea in the Alps, has been discovered by Dr. Forsyth Major at Levrange in Lombardy.[1] The second, now haunting the higher Alps, Pyrenees, and Carpathians, in the Pleistocene ranged from the shores of the Mediterranean (Mentone) as far north as Belgium (Trou de Magrite, Dupont). The third, the chamois of the Alps, the izard of the Pyrenees, the steinbock of the Carpathians and the Caucasus, lived on the banks of the Meuse, the region drained by the Loire, and in Suabia; while the fourth, the bouquetin or ibex of the Alps, Carpathians, and Sierra Nevada in Spain, was found alike in Gibraltar (Busk), southern and central France (Mentone, Auvergne), Belgium, and Suabia (Fraas). The last species is probably identical with the Capra beden of Crete, of the Cyclades, of Syria, and of north-eastern Africa, as well as with the C. Sibirica of the Altai and Thibet, all of which appear to be varieties brought about by insulation of the breeds from each other.
In the Pleistocene age the ibex ranged from the border of the Mediterranean northwards over Spain, France, and Germany; and it would have free access to North Africa, the sea bottom in the Straits of Gibraltar then being a valley lifted up above the level of the sea (see Map, Fig. 24), as well as to Crete and the Cyclades, which were then
- ↑ Atti Soc. Tosc. Sc. Nat., Nov. 1876.
