GEOGRAPHICAL RANGES OF AUSTRALIAN MAMMALS

Rapoport's rule states that geographical range size increases from the tropics towards the poles. We test this rule using data on Australian mammals and find that it does not hold. Latitudinal and longitudinal patterns in mammal range size correlate with continental width. However, there are clear relationships among range size, species richness, vegetation and climate. The arid centre of Australia contains the fewest mammal species, with the largest ranges, whereas the moist and mountainous east coast, and the monsoonal north, contain large numbers of species with small ranges.