. The origin and evolution of life, on the theory of action, reaction and interaction of energy. Fig. 122. The North Polar Theory of theDistribution of Mammals. A zenith view of the earth from the north pole,showing (arrows) the North Polar theory of thegeographic migrations and distribution of themammals, especially of the Primates (monkeys,lemurs, and apes). AfterW. , 1915. Matthew, W. D., 1915. 258 THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF LIFE and feet, is one of the most fascinating fields of philosophicstudy. In the more humid, semi-forested regions, which preservethe physiographic conditions
. The origin and evolution of life, on the theory of action, reaction and interaction of energy. Fig. 122. The North Polar Theory of theDistribution of Mammals. A zenith view of the earth from the north pole,showing (arrows) the North Polar theory of thegeographic migrations and distribution of themammals, especially of the Primates (monkeys,lemurs, and apes). AfterW. , 1915. Matthew, W. D., 1915. 258 THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF LIFE and feet, is one of the most fascinating fields of philosophicstudy. In the more humid, semi-forested regions, which preservethe physiographic conditions of early Eocene times (Fig. 123),we discover most of the examples of the survival of primitivemammalian forms and functions. The borderland betweenthe extremes of aridity and humidity has afforded the most. Fig. 123. Scene in Western Wyoming in Middle Eocene Time. The period of the four-toed mountain horse, Orohippiis (right), of the Uintathere (left),and of the Titanothere (left lower). From study for a mural decoration in the AmericanMuseum of Natural History by Charles R. Knight under the authors direction. favorable habitats for the rapid evolution of all the forms ofterrestrial life. From these favored regions the mammalshave entered the semi-arid and arid deserts, in which alsoevolution has been relatively rapid. Since Tertiary geologicsuccession is nearly unbroken we can now trace the evolutionof many families of the carnivores, the greater number of thehoofed mammals, and the rodents, with few interruptionsthrough the entire 3,000,000 years of Tertiary time. It isthrough our very close observation of the origin and historyof numerous single characters as exhibited in palaeontologiclines of evolution that the three chief modes (p. 251) of mam- GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION 259 malian ev
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