I have already referred to the occurrence of the remains of a small race of Red Deer in the caves of Malta, similar to those still living in North-west Africa, Corsica, and Sardinia. The Black-mouthed Weasel (_Mustela boccamela_) inhabits Persia, Asia Minor, Greece, South Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia, while _Mustela africana_ is found in Malta and Algiers. The European Porcupine inhabits Asia Minor, the island of Rhodos, Greece, Southern Italy, Sicily, North Africa, and Spain. Then we have the Wild Sheep of Asia Minor, Cyprus, Sardinia, and Corsica, all of which are closely allied. The small shrew-like _Crocidura etrusca_ occurs in South France, Italy, Sicily, and North Africa. Many other mammalia might be quoted, but these are sufficient for our purpose.
There are a good many reptiles and amphibians with a similar distribution. The European Chamæleon (_Chamæleon vulgaris_) has been found in South Spain, North Africa, and Sicily. The Snake _Periops hippocrepis_ is confined to Spain, Sardinia, and Greece. The worm-like Lizard _Blanus cinereus_ inhabits some of the Greek islands, North Africa, and Spain. Another Lizard belonging to the _Scincidæ_ has also been found in some of the Greek islands, Sicily, Sardinia, Southern Spain, and the Canary Islands. _Discoglossus pictus_--a toad--occurs in Spain, North-west Africa, Malta, Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica. A variety of the Tree Frog (_Hyla arborea Savignyi_) is found in Europe only in Corsica, Sardinia, and the Greek Archipelago.
Eight species of Reptiles and Amphibia--some of which I have just referred to--are enumerated by Dr. Forsyth Major as occurring eastward and westward of the Italian peninsula (and almost all also in North Africa) without being known on the mainland of Italy. And in order to show that Sardinia and Corsica are more closely related to North Africa than to Italy, he indicates the general range of the Reptiles and Amphibians found in these islands. Of the twenty-one species, only twelve inhabit Italy, but at least sixteen North Africa and seventeen Spain. Indeed, he shows that Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, and North-west Africa form a zoogeographical province, from which Italy, with the exception of a few localities on its west coast, is excluded. It is a remarkable fact that there are a few localities on the west coast of Italy which in their fauna and flora exhibit closer relationship with Corsica and Sardinia than with the mainland. Thus Dr. Major pointed out that the _Catena Mettalifera_, the _Monte Argentario_, and _Monte Circeo_ all belong to what we may call the former Tyrrhenian continent. They are to be regarded as its eastern limits, which remained standing, while the central portion--now occupied by the Tyrrhenian Sea--subsided, and is at present covered by deep sea. Subsequently these remnants of the old continent became joined with the newly-formed Italian peninsula, but the plants and animals belonging to the older flora and fauna were mostly destroyed by newer and more vigorous immigrants. A few of the more hardy ones survived, and are a standing testimony of the geographical revolutions of that part of Southern Europe.