Amphi-Atlantic Distribution of Organisms

Amphi-Atlantic Distribution of Organisms 

divided (separated) distribution of a species (or group of similar species) in the northern half of the Atlantic Ocean. The term is more often applied to marine fauna. In typical cases, this fauna—cod and certain sea birds, such as the razorbill, black guillemot, and puffin—is encountered along the coasts of Europe and the eastern shores of North America but not in the middle portion of the ocean. Certain fish and invertebrates dwell along the coasts of Iceland and southern Greenland. Among terrestrial fauna, animals which are encountered in Europe and eastern North America have an amphi-Atlantic distribution; in certain instances, their range also covers western Siberia and western North America. On the basis of the break of the range in Asia, it may be assumed that at one time there were different physical and geographic conditions here and that the range was not broken. In certain species, the amphi-Atlantic distribution has been the result of man’s bringing European animals, chiefly terrestrial, to America. Sometimes the concept of amphi-Atlantic distribution is applied to certain groups of species which are found in Africa and South America.

V. G. GEPTNER