Abstract
I FULLY agree with Dr. Guppy that birds may have effected much more in the distribution of plants than is generally admitted, and I think it is most desirable that his suggestion respecting the examination of the contents of the crops of birds shot at sea in high southern latitudes should be carried out. At the same time I am of opinion that his explanation of the probable origin of the vegetation of the distant islands in the South Atlantic and South Indian Oceans is insufficient to account for the endemic element, unless we suppose a former belt of vegetation in a higher latitude than these islands, which is now extinet. Assuming the existence of such a belt of vegetation at some remote period, it would not be difficult to explain the relationships between the floras of America and Australasia, as well as the presence in these islands of plants not known to exist elsewhere.
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HEMSLEY, W. Dissemination of Plants by Birds. Nature 38, 53 (1888). https://doi.org/10.1038/038053c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/038053c0
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