The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1884-10-03
DEER LODGE, MONTANA, OCTOBER 3, 1884,
THE FIRST ANIMAL LIFE.
Did IL Begin Wher" Greedy Has Been?


A theory has been enunciated that
the poles were first fitted to produce
life, which consequently commenced at
the northern and southern extremities
OF the globe, developing independently
but to certain extent correspondingly,
since conditions were similar. By the
secular cooling of the globe the poles
ultimately became untitled to support
life. and such forms as did not perish
in the change of the earth's surface
slowly migrated towards the equator.
changing the course of ages, and ulti-
mately giving rise TO fauna which,
over most of the globe, consists of q
mixture of northern and southern
forms.
Many facts derived from the northern
hemisphere lend support TO this theory.
and the southern hemisphere has re-
Gently added new facts which tell in
the same direction. The animals of the
northern hemisphere are still almost
identical throughout the worlds ciI.
cult. The same families and even the
same species of mammals and birds
are common TO the north of the Old
World and OF the New. To give few
yin vi uOOSe, thC lCIu-
deer, the beaver, the lynx, the wolf,
the fox. of Europe and Asia are speci-
ally identified with those of America.
The bison of America is closely allied
to the aurochs of Europe, the brown
bear OF Europe TO our own grizzly, the
stag TO the wapiti or elk, and so on.
Remains of mammals now regarded
as tropicai-such rs the elephant, hip
popotamus, rhinoceros, hyena, lion,
etc.-are common in the tertiary strata
of temperature and even Arctic regions.
This is proof of a southern migration
when climate changed. In the south
ern point of South America, in DESC
late Patagonia, have been found man.
ma! ian remains which tend 10 show
that the tertiary fauna OF Patagonia
preceded that of the Argentine Repub-
lie, to the north of it. Forms of the
pampas are there. but are somewhat
more generalizcd. rs though older.
Hooker has shown that sevcnty-scven
species of plants are common 10 South
America. New Il aland and Tasmania.
A small family of fishes (Galaxida)
and The marsupiia (kan%aroOs, wom-
bat, opOsSum, etc.) are Australian and
South American.
A sort of submarine plateau connects
Staten Island (part of Terra del Fuego
Archipelago) with South Georgia and
other Antarctic lands. and it seems not
unlikely that great Antarctic conti-
nent once existed, the remains of which
are Australia, New Zealand, etc, on
the one hand. and Patagonia on the
other. In Australia the marsupialia
multiplied. and. spreading northward.
mingled with the borcal fauna that
had been driven southwark. In South
America the marsupialia did not great
ly multiply, though they spread. after
the upheaval of the Islhmus of Pana-
ma, into North America. where they
are represented by the opossum.
The edentata (sloths. armadillos, ant
eaters, and their relations) first appear
cd in Patagonia in the miocene period,
and, spreading northward. became the
characteristic animals of South Ameri-
ca. Edentates (the aard-vark or cape
anteater, and the pangolins or scaly
anteaters) occur also in Africa, which
was probably once connected south
ward with the ancient AnlarUtio cnnti-
nent.
In many cases the animals of north
ern origin, which are the most numer-
GUS, can be distinguished from the
southern, but in other cases we can
not distinguish them, since on the one
hand, animals which naturalists place
in the same family on account of re-
sem blances in structure may very pos
sibly have had distinct ancestry, and,
on the other hand, the northern forms,
which evidently predominate, have
not only varied greatly in the course of
ages but have penetrated far toward
the southern extremities of the conti-
nents. As regards tho northern hemi-
sphere, the mblance between the
fishes, insects. and mollusoa of the
old world and of the new are even
more striking than those of the higher
animals.