Imperial Gazetteer Punjab 1908 Vol 1

· 1908 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

1Fauna.

214 PUNT AB

3magnolia, and lautel in the east. Where rain and mist are not

4excessive, as for example in Kuli and Kumaun. Furopean

5fruit trees (apples, pears, apricots, and peaches) have been

6naturalized very successfully, and an important crop of potatoes

7is obtained in the west. Above about 12,c00 fcet the forests

8become thinner. Birch and willow mixed with dwarf rhodo-

9dendrons continue for a time, till the open pasture land is

10reached, which is richly adorned in the summer months with

11brilliant \lpine species of flowers, Contrasting the western

12with the eastern section we find that the former is far less rich,

13though it has been better explored, while there is a preponder-

14ance of European species. A fuller account of the botanical

15features of the Himalayas will be found in Vol. I. chap. iv.

16To obtain a gencral idea of the fuuna of the HimAlayas it is

17sufficient to consider the whole system as divided into two

18tracts: namely, the area in the lower hills where forests can

19flourish, and the area above the forests. The main charac-

20teristics of these tracts have been summarized by the late

21Dr. W. T. Blanford'. In the forest area the fauna differs

22markedly from that of the Indian Peninsula stretching away

23from the base of the hills. It does not contain the so-called

24Aryan element of mammals, birds, and reptiles which are related

25to Ethiopian and Holarctic genera. and to the pliocenc Siwalik

26fauna, nor does it include the Dravidian element of reptiles

27and batrachians. On the other hand, it includes the follow-

28ing animals which do not occur in the Peninsula—Mammals :

29the farmiies Simiidae, Procyonidac, Talpidac, and Spalacidae,

30and the sub-family Gymmnurinae, besides numerous ¢enera, such

31as LPrionodon, Felictis, Arctonyx, .itherura, Nomorhacdus, and

32Cemas. Birds: the famihes Euryluenidae, Indicatoridae, and

33Hehornithidue, and the sub-family Paradoxornithinae. Reptiles:

34Platysternidae and Anguidae, Batrachians: Dyscophidae,

35Hylidae, Pelobatidae, and Salamandridae. Compared with

36the Peninsula, the fauna of the forest area is poor in reptiles

37and batrachians.

38‘It also contains but few peculiar genera of mammals and

39birds, and almost all the peculiar types that do occur have

40Holarctic affinities. The Oriental element in the fuuna is

41very richly represented in the Eastern Himalayas and gradu-

42ally diminishes to the westward, until in Kashmir and farther

43West It ceases to be the principal constituent. These facts are

44consistent with the theory that the Oriental constituent of the

45* «The Tustribution of Vertebrate Animals in India, Ceylon, and Burma.’

46Proceedings, Royal Socwly, vol. lxvii, p. 484.