This book describes the outstanding features of the ecology and bio geography of the Indian region, comprising former British India, Nepal, Bhutan, Ceylon and Burma. It summarizes the results of nearly four decades' studies and field explorations and discussions with students on the distribution of plants and animals, practically throughout this vast area and on the underlying factors. A number of specialists in geology, meteorology, botany, zoology, ecology and anthropology have also actively collaborated with me and have contributed valuable chapters in their respective fields. India has an exceptionally rich and highly diversified flora and fauna, exhibiting complex composition, character and affinities. Although the fauna of the Indian region as a whole is less completely known than its flora, we are nevertheless fairly well acquainted with at least the salient features of its faunal characters to enable us to present a meaningful discussion on some of the outstanding peculiarities of the biogeography of India. A general synthesis of the available, though much scattered, information should prove useful to future students of biogeography throughout the world.

This book describes the outstanding features of the ecology and bio geography of the Indian region, comprising former British India, Nepal, Bhutan, Ceylon and Burma. It summarizes the results of nearly four decades' studies and field explorations and discussions with students on the distribution of plants and animals, practically throughout this vast area and on the underlying factors. A number of specialists in geology, meteorology, botany, zoology, ecology and anthropology have also actively collaborated with me and have contributed valuable chapters in their respective fields. India has an exceptionally rich and highly diversified flora and fauna, exhibiting complex composition, character and affinities. Although the fauna of the Indian region as a whole is less completely known than its flora, we are nevertheless fairly well acquainted with at least the salient features of its faunal characters to enable us to present a meaningful discussion on some of the outstanding peculiarities of the biogeography of India. A general synthesis of the available, though much scattered, information should prove useful to future students of biogeography throughout the world.

In my book Introduction to High Altitude Entomology, published in 1962, I summa rized the results of eight years' studies, mainly on the Himalaya. I have since then had the opportunity of studying the collections of high altitude insects from the Alps, Carpathians, Caucasus, Urals, Alai-Pamirs, Tien Shan, Altai and other im portant mountains of the world in different museums and institutions in Europe. Through the courtesy and generosity of the Academy of Sciences of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, I was also able to personally collect insects and make valuable field observations on the Caucasus, the Alai-Pamirs, Ala-Tau and the Tien Shan mountains. Through comparative studies I have tried to synthesize the fundamental principles of high altitude entomology. I have described here the distinctive characters of the high altitude environment, the ecological specializations of the high altitude insects, their ecological inter relations and the outstanding peculiarities of their biogeography. I have also pre sented here an outline of the high altitude entomology of the principal mountains of the world, with brief accounts of their orogeny, geology and vegetation. This book differs from all other contributions in the field in its comparative ecological approach and in the fact that the main emphasis is throughout on the evolution of the high altitude ecosystem as an integral part of the orogeny. High mountains are, in all parts of the world, important and independent centres of origin and differ entiation of distinctive and highly specialized ecosystems and faunas.

One needs to look at only a small portion of the enormous literature on plate tectonics published in the last 15 years to realize that there are many differences between the various reconstructions that have been presented. It becomes obvious that, although there is a general agreement about the presence of an assembly of continents (a Pangaea) in the early Mesozoic, there is considerable disagreement among earth scientists as to the configurement of the assembly and the manner and timing of the subsequent dispersal. While the revolution in geophysics was taking place, systematic work in paleontology and neontology was being carried out. This book is an attempt to incorporate the biological evidence into the theory of plate tectonics.The author traces the changing relationships among the various biogeographic regions and demonstrates how such changes may often be correlated with the gradual geographic alteration of the earth's surface. He analyses recent information about the distribution of widespread groups of terrestrial and freshwater vertebrates, invertebrates and plants, and discusses the biogeographical effects of the movement of oceanic plates.It is particularly important to obtain dependable information about certain critical times in the history of continental relationships. We need to know when the terrestrial parts of the earth were broken apart and when they were joined together. The present investigation makes it clear that we cannot depend entirely on evidence from plate tectonics nor will purely biological evidence suffice. This book thus provides much of interest to systematists working on contemporary groups of plants and animals, paleontologists, evolutionary biologists, and professors teaching courses in biogeography.

A fascinating analysis of the main patterns of distribution and evolution of the Australasian biota.