The History of the European Fauna Part 15

As soon as the Miocene sea to the north of the mountains had retreated, a portion of the Alpine fauna poured into the plain, and many species have found their way to the British Islands, a few to Scandinavia and Russia. Westward too, the sea soon after retired and opened a way for those Alpine species which were vigorous enough to extend their range in that direction. South-eastward, of course, a highway had long ago been open, and Alpine forms which were able to migrate towards the incoming Oriental stream, had no difficulty in doing so. When they arrived in Greece, some turned westward again and populated Sicily, Southern Italy, Sardinia, Corsica, and Northern Africa, while others crossed over to Asia Minor, which was then connected with Greece, and wandered towards the Central Asiatic or the Himalayan Mountains.

But, as I remarked, few of the typical Alpine species reached Scandinavia and Lapland. I have already referred to the similarity between the Northern Scandinavian and the Alpine faunas in a previous chapter, and I have shown that this resemblance cannot altogether be explained by the supposition of an interchange in the faunas of the two regions. That this has taken place to some extent is probable, but the resemblance appears more especially due to the fact that the Alps and Scandinavia have been peopled from the same centres of distribution.

In order to make this matter quite clear, I will give a familiar example as an instance of the manner in which the present distribution can be explained without taking recourse to direct migration from the Alps to Scandinavia or _vice versa_. The example I will take is that of a family of birds, not only of extreme interest from the fact of its northern range, but also from the pleasure it gives to those addicted to sport.

This is the grouse family, the _Tetraonidae_.

Let us commence with our British Grouse (_Lagopus scoticus_), which is peculiar to the British Islands. In Norway we find a Grouse (_L. albus_) which differs in habit, and in the fact of its turning white in winter; otherwise it is so closely allied to our Grouse that many ornithologists do not separate them specifically. No doubt the British Grouse is a descendant of this Scandinavian Willow-grouse. The latter is known also to inhabit Greenland and Arctic North America, and it is even found beyond Behring Straits in Northern Siberia. _En route_ between Scandinavia and Asia, travelling in a westward direction, we meet with two other very local species of Grouse, which may be looked upon as offshoots of _L. rupestris_--viz., _L. hyperboreus_ of Spitsbergen, and _leucurus_ of Western North America. In Asia we then again find two kinds of Grouse, very closely related, and by some indeed regarded as belonging to the same species. These are _L. rupestris_ and _L. mutus_.

Mr. Ogilvie-Grant tells us of the former (p. 49), that it is merely a more northern rufous form of _L. mutus_, and that it goes through similar changes of plumage. In summer the males are readily distinguishable, but in winter it is impossible to tell one from the other. "_L. rupestris_ taken as a whole," says Mr. Ogilvie-Grant, "appears to us barely specifically distinct from _L. mutus_." _L.

rupestris_ occurs not only in Northern Asia, but crosses the Behring Straits to Arctic America, being still found on the Aleutian Islands, which represent the last remains of the former land-bridge between Asia and North America, then eastward to Greenland and Iceland. However, while this form does not cross the confines of Asia in a westerly direction, its near relative _L. mutus_--better known as the Ptarmigan--does; and may perhaps have entered Europe as a Siberian and also as an Arctic migrant. It is still found in the Ural Mountains, in Finland, and the highlands of Scandinavia. It is gradually being driven out of the Alpine lowlands, while it has long ago disappeared from Germany, France, and Austria--in fact, from all the lowlands of Europe.

It has also been met with in the Pyrenees and in some of the Spanish mountains. Similarly, the bird has become extinct in England and Ireland, while it is becoming more and more scarce in Scotland. The centre of distribution of the genus lies in Arctic America, and from there the genus has spread to Europe and Asia. _L. albus_ and _L. mutus_ appear in our continent chiefly as Arctic migrants.

The Black Grouse (_Lyrurus tetrix_) belongs to a closely allied genus, which has only two species. One of these is very local in distribution, being confined to the Caucasus, but the smallness of range is to some extent compensated for by the peculiarity of its name, which is _L.

mlokosiewiczi_. The Black Grouse, on the contrary, is widely distributed. It inhabits Northern Asia from the Pacific to the Ural Mountains, and extends as far south as Pekin and the Tian Shan range. In Europe it is found from the extreme east to the Pyrenees, the Apennines on the south, and to Great Britain and Scandinavia in the north. It is important to note its absence from Spain, the Mediterranean islands, and Ireland; and we have learned that it is one of those Siberian migrants which have succeeded in establis.h.i.+ng themselves in the Alps.

The Capercaillie (_Tetrao urogallus_)--another great favourite with sportsmen--is now generally separated generically from the Black Grouse, though they are of course near relations. Its range greatly resembles that of the Black Grouse, except that it does not go quite as far east in Siberia, not having been met with beyond Lake Baikal. From there it is found westward as far as the Pyrenees. It occurs also in the Carpathians and the Alps. In England, where it used to be known by the name c.o.c.k of the Wood, it became extinct at some remote period in history, while it lingered on in Scotland and Ireland until the end of the last century. In Scotland it has been reintroduced into several counties, and being protected, it appears to spread from these artificial centres of distribution.

Like the Black c.o.c.k, the Capercaillie is a Siberian migrant, and it is one of the few Siberian species which have reached Ireland, as I have had occasion to mention in dealing with the origin of the British fauna.

Two other species of Capercaillie and an allied genus (_Falcipennis_) are met with in the extreme north-east of Siberia, and six other genera, all belonging to the grouse family, are confined to North America. We have therefore a very intimate relations.h.i.+p between the grouse of Asia and those of North America, some species even ranging right across the two continents.

The last genus of this very interesting family is _Tetrastes_. This grouse is not familiar to British ornithologists, since it is entirely absent from the British Islands. But sportsmen who have tramped over Scandinavia know it well by the name of Hazel Grouse. It is ashy grey in colour, barred and vermiculated with black. The Common Hazel Grouse (_Tetrastes bonasia_) is found from Northern Spain in the west right through the mountainous parts of Central and Northern Europe and Northern Asia to Kamtchatka and the Russian convict island of Saghalien in the Pacific. Besides the Common Hazel Grouse, two other species are known, one from Eastern Russia and the other from China.

Having now shortly reviewed the whole grouse family, we have seen that, although some species live within the Polar Circle, the majority are more or less confined to the more temperate or rather the less arctic parts of the Northern Hemisphere. They are quite absent from Southern Asia and even the southern parts of North America, and almost so from the Mediterranean basin. The whole range of the family is therefore suggestive of a northern origin, and this view agrees perfectly with all the details of distribution. The centre of distribution lies in Northern Asia, or in Arctic North America. From there the great genus _Lagopus_ spread east and west, reaching Europe by these vastly divergent routes at a time when the physical geography was very different from what it is to-day. Several of the species common to the Alps and Scandinavia have migrated from Siberia direct to Eastern Europe. But we can now imagine how from a similar centre in Asia--perhaps at a rather more remote time--a species spread eastward across North America and Greenland to Scandinavia, and westward along the mountain ranges of the Tian Shan and the mountains of Asia Minor to Greece, and finally to the Alps. We should then have the same species in the Alps and in Scandinavia, not far removed from one another; but how different were their paths of migration! This, however, is not an imaginary instance. Such a migration must have actually taken place in a good number of instances among the terrestrial invertebrates and also among plants.

The view still current among many zoologists and botanists, that animals and plants were driven down into the plain from the mountains of Europe during the height of the Glacial period and there lived together till the return of a more genial temperature, when they retreated to their mountain homes, is a very plausible one. During their sojourn in the plain, the plants and animals--say from Scandinavia--intermingled with those from the Alps; and when the time of separation came, many Alpine forms retired northward with the Scandinavians, while many Scandinavians would go with the Alpines to their home. In this way the similarity between the Alpine and Scandinavian faunas and floras is a.s.sumed to have been brought about. These theories, first promulgated by Edward Forbes, were hailed with general satisfaction by the scientific world. Even Darwin says of them (p. 331), that grounded as they are on the perfectly well-ascertained occurrence of a former Glacial period, they seemed to him to explain in a satisfactory manner the present distribution of the Alpine and Arctic productions of Europe. To the present day this view meets with much favour among naturalists. It is somewhat similar to one which has recently been strongly supported by Professor Nehring and accepted by Professor Th. Studer and many others. They have never made it quite clear whether the pre-glacial fauna and flora are supposed to have been absolutely destroyed by the glacial climate, or whether part of them have been able to take refuge somewhere in the south; but the great ma.s.s of our Alpine plants and animals are believed to have been derived from the Siberian invasion, which I have fully described in the fifth chapter. This invasion spread over the European plain, and when the climate ameliorated, both animals and plants migrated north and south to the mountains. This view agrees with the earlier theory, except that the adaptation to Alpine conditions would, according to the former, have taken place since the close of the Glacial period, during which time no such modification or change of species seems to have been produced in other parts of the world. The characteristic fauna of the Alps, as has been gathered from the preceding pages, is mainly of Central Asiatic rather than of Siberian origin. Migration to the Alps took place by the Oriental route long before the Siberian invasion. Some of the species of the latter have penetrated to the Alps, but these Siberian species have not given to the fauna of the highest European mountain range the striking character with which we all a.s.sociate it.

Before concluding this chapter, a few remarks on the botanical aspect of the Alpine problem might not be out of place. It will enable us to judge which of the views indicated is the more probable, and will add to the interest which may have been aroused by the perusal of this sketch of the fauna of the Alps. Very much the same train of argument was applied as to the course of events in the formation of the Alpine flora as in the case of the fauna. The plants were all supposed to have been killed or driven away by the arctic temperature of the Glacial period, and their place taken by new migrants from the north or east when the climate ameliorated.

Professor Engler, one of the highest living authorities on the geographical distribution of plants, is of opinion (p. 102) that a large number of the indigenous Alpine species did not originate till after the close of the Glacial period, because so many of them are absent from the Sierra Nevada in Spain, where the condition for their well-being exists, while many have evidently spread from the Alps to the Carpathian Mountains and to the Pyrenees. He does not believe that a glacial flora could have existed in the plain between the Sierra Nevada and the Pyrenees during the Glacial period (p. 109). In speaking of the Caucasus, Professor Engler informs us (p. 117) that a good many species which do not occur in the Alps reached these mountains from Siberia.

Apart from the northern glacial plants, the Caucasus has only few species in common with the Alps, more with the Balkan mountains and Northern Persia. Turning to Afghanistan, our author mentions (p. 121) a few Alpine plants as occurring in that country, and likewise in the Caucasus and the Himalayas. He considers it probable that the route of migration of some glacial plants from the east to the west, and _vice versa_, lay across the Afghan mountains. Many of our Alpine plants occur in the Siberian mountains, but in the Alta and Eastern Siberia generally a considerable number of these are by no means confined to the mountains (p. 125). They are also met with in the lower regions, and the rare Alpine Edelweiss (_Leontopodium alpinum_) frequently covers wide tracts in the plain, and is pa.s.sed by almost unnoticed by the Siberian botanist.

Special attention is drawn by Professor Engler to the fact (p. 130) that several of the Siberian plants inhabit the Alps and the Caucasus, but are not found in Scandinavia. And from this he deduces the conclusion that part of the Siberian flora migrated in a south-westerly direction towards the Caucasus and the mountains of the Mediterranean area, exactly in the manner indicated in respect to the fauna of the Alps. We learned that the migration to the Alps from Central and perhaps also parts of Northern Asia took a south-westerly course first, and was then followed by one in an easterly direction. I called the former the Oriental migration and the latter the Siberian. Later on Professor Engler states (p. 142) that the main ma.s.s of the Siberian forms of plants certainly wandered westward to the south of the Ural. This is proved by the numerous glacial plants found in the Caucasus, while the glacial flora of the Ural Mountains is poor. Finally, he expresses the opinion that the probability of most of the Alpine plants occurring in Arctic Siberia, having wandered from the Alps, by way of Scandinavia, Greenland, and North America, to North-eastern Siberia, is greater than the direct migration from Europe to Siberia (p. 143).

Another continental writer on the Alpine flora who deserves special mention is Dr. Christ. His observation that Alpine plants by no means suffer from a high temperature (p. 309), but solely from a drying up of the soil, seems to me to point to the correctness of the view I have expressed on several occasions, that these plants have originated long before the Glacial period at a time when the climate was warmer and moister than it is now. It seems quite natural to Dr. Christ that the Arcto-Alpine flora should have originated in Asia, but he excepts thirty species which are absent from Northern Asia, though occurring in America (p. 327). These he thinks have penetrated direct from America to the Alps by way of Scandinavia, since no less than twenty-three still occur in the latter country. In the human population of the Alps, he continues (p. 336), one can distinguish an indigenous Celtic race, a Germanic colder and more apathetic race, and a more lively Roman one. The flora is composed of quite a similar mixture. We find also an indigenous element--an Arctic and a Mediterranean one. The last element is a survival of the Tertiary flora of the Central European plateau (p. 532).

The plants were driven down to the sh.o.r.es of the Mediterranean, and it is only after the retreat of the glaciers that a few of them have been able to regain their ancient territory. The incoming Asiatic and North American flora likewise retired at the end of the Glacial period to the Alps and the Arctic countries, and left isolated traces of its former abundance on the North European plain. The bulk of the Arctic or Alpine flora is held to be of Asiatic origin. Since Siberia shows little trace of having been glaciated, owing to the dryness of the climate, a rich flora was able to develop there, which spread into Europe as soon as the vanis.h.i.+ng glaciers made room for it.

These are the views of Professor Engler and Dr. Christ. They agree in so far as both of them maintain that the bulk of the Alpine flora is post-glacial--that is to say, that it has developed quite recently, or migrated to the Alps after the glaciers had retreated from the plain to the mountain recesses. It is a.s.sumed by Dr. Christ that while Europe was practically uninhabitable, a rich flora survived in Northern Asia, because the climate there was too dry for the development of glaciers.

Due consideration in this interesting speculation, however, is not given to the fact which he himself emphasised, that Alpine plants are particularly p.r.o.ne to suffer from a dry climate. Even a moderately dry cold kills most of them. How can we then reconcile this fact with the theory of their origin in a dry and intensely cold climate? I quite agree with the views as to the Asiatic origin of the bulk of the Alpine flora, while the dry state of the Siberian climate is certainly indicated by the extremely feeble development of the glaciers during a large part of the Glacial period. We know, however, that in Pliocene and even in early Glacial times the atmospheric conditions must have been very different in Siberia. A great slice of Central Asia was under water, and numerous freshwater lakes covered the lowlands in the north, so that the climate must have been damp though not cold enough for the formation of extensive glaciers. Everything, in fact, seems to indicate that the migration of the Asiatic Alpine flora took place at a very early date--probably long before the Glacial period--either by the Oriental or by the Arctic route _via_ North America, Greenland, and Scandinavia. But would this not necessitate a survival of the Alpine plants in the Alps themselves? That is the view which has already been expressed with regard to the fauna, and the flora probably followed a very similar course. This is by no means a novel theory, however, and though unfortunately an untimely death has removed one of our very best authorities on the Alpine flora before he had completed his life's work, we have some indications in the earlier writings of John Ball that his opinions on the origin of that flora did not coincide with those held by the leading continental authors. To quote the words of this distinguished botanist (p. 576): "Is it credible that in the short interval since the close of the Glacial period hundreds of very distinct species and several genera have been developed in the Alps, and--what is no less hard to conceive--that several of these non-Arctic species and genera should still more recently have been distributed at wide intervals throughout a discontinuous chain some 1500 miles in length, from the Pyrenees to the Eastern Carpathians? Nor would the difficulties cease there. You would have left unexplained the fact that many of the non-Arctic types which are present in the Alps are represented in the mountains of distant regions, not by the same, but by allied species, which must have descended from a common ancestor; that one species of _Wulfenia_, for example, inhabits one small corner of the Alps, that another is found in Northern Syria, while a third allied species has its home in the Himalaya." Mr. Ball is of opinion (p. 584) that the effects of the Glacial period have been greatly overrated. "Even during the period of maximum cold the highest ridges of the Alps were not completely covered with snow and ice; for we still see by the appearance of the surface, the limit above which the ancient ice did not reach, and in the middle zone the slopes that rose above the ancient glaciers had a summer climate not very different from that which now prevails. In my opinion the effect of the Glacial period on the growth of plants in the Alps was to lower the vertical height of the zones of vegetation by from one to two thousand feet." He acknowledges that there was probably a moderate diminution of the mean temperature of Europe with an increased snowfall, so as to cause a great extension of glaciers on all the mountains of Northern Europe. "But that the climate of Middle Europe was such that the plants of the high Alps could spread across the plains seems to me an improbable supposition" (p. 584).

On the Continent, also, some botanists seem to feel that Forbes's theories of the origin of the Alpine flora, which were at first hailed with such delight, and accepted by almost every naturalist as the final verdict, must be modified in the light of recent researches. Professor Krasan believes that many plants which now live in the high Alps flourished in pliocene times at sea-level (p. 37). "Especially the evergreen species exhibit the impression of an originally mild climate--of a climate without winter frosts--for otherwise the plants would have developed into species with deciduous leaves." To the favourable conditions, consisting in periodic snowfalls and high summer temperature, must be attributed the fact that in the highlands so many more species from Tertiary times have survived than in the plains. The temperature was probably much higher during the Glacial period than is generally believed. The climate was more moist, thus contributing to an abundant snowfall, while the survivors of ancient Tertiary times were able to repeople the parts which were temporarily devastated by the advancing glaciers.

In so short a chapter it is impossible to deal with the Alpine fauna in a manner more deserving of this theme. I have merely sought to give a sketch of the general outlines of the subject and to suggest another possible mode of origin of Alpine animals than that currently believed in by naturalists. It is to be hoped these suggestions will be useful to those intending to reinvestigate the problems raised in this chapter.

When our knowledge of the fauna of Asia is more complete, it will be possible to give a more thorough and in many respects a more satisfactory history of the European fauna than at present.

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER VIII.

In early Tertiary times the area now covered by the European Alps was covered by the sea. Islands slowly rose above the surface of the waters, which finally coalesced to form a peninsula connected with the mainland in the east. Animals now began to invade the new territory which continued to rise, while the sea retired farther and farther to the north and south. During the Pliocene Epoch the sea ceased to wash the northern sh.o.r.es of the Alps, and both emigration and immigration became possible in that direction, and also from and to the west.

The Alpine fauna and also the flora are made up of a number of elements, the eastern one being the oldest. The latter is represented in the Alps by the older and newer Oriental migration. The general range of the Alpine Steinbock, Chamois, Marmot, Vole, Shrew, and Hare are specially referred to. The Alpine birds are few in number, and all of them are readily traceable to an Asiatic ancestry. Among the Amphibia, the Salamanders are considered of Alpine origin.

Dr. Kobelt tells us that a uniformity of character marks the Alpine molluscan fauna. _Campylaea_,--often considered a sub-genus of _Helix_,--_Pomatias_, _Zonites_, are looked upon as truly Alpine genera.

For very long periods the Alps seem to have received no addition to their molluscan fauna from other areas. The case is very different with the _Lepidoptera_, some of the most striking species being evidently Asiatic immigrants. Some examples of _Coleoptera_ and _Orthoptera_ are mentioned, and their origin discussed.

We find as the result of these considerations that the majority of the Alpine species are either indigenous or have come from Asia with the Oriental migration. None of the northern or western immigrants appear to be among the characteristic Alpine species, and it seems that the Siberian migrants have not retired to the Alps, as some naturalists have been led to suppose. It is evident that the fauna must have survived the Glacial period on the Alps, though according to geological evidence glaciers of enormous size originated on these mountains.

The ident.i.ty of many Alpine species with Scandinavian ones appears at first sight due to a direct migration from the Alps to Scandinavia or _vice versa_. Perhaps such a migration has taken place to some extent, but it is probable that from a Central Asiatic centre some species spread across Arctic America into Northern Europe, and also westward to the Alps. The Grouse family forms an interesting example.

There are two older theories which explain the similarity between the Scandinavian and Alpine faunas. Forbes's view, which gained most adherents among naturalists, was that the Scandinavian and Alpine animals were driven into the plain by the cold during the Glacial period, and when they ultimately regained their homes, some individuals of the northern species moved southward, and a few of the southern ones northward. By the more recent theory of Nehring, the Siberian animals which invaded our continent from the east, and then spread northward to Scandinavia and southward to the Alps, formed the nucleus of the faunas of these two areas. The objections to both of these views are fully set forth in this chapter.

A few remarks on the botanical aspect of the Alpine problem conclude the chapter. The origin of the flora has been explained in a very similar manner to that of the fauna. But already Ball and Krasan have raised their voices against the current theories, as the facts of distribution appear to them more satisfactorily explained on lines more consonant with those which I have used in discussing the origin of the Alpine fauna. One of the most important conclusions obtained by this study of the flora in conjunction with the fauna, is that I have emphasised in most of the preceding chapters--viz., that the Glacial period in Europe was not a time of extreme cold, and that its destructive effect on the animals and plants was by no means such as is currently believed.

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