This reference material focuses on plate tectonics and its effect on global distribution of animals giving especial emphasis on distribution of fauna in Africa and adjacent continents. The present global distribution patterns of animals are largely brought about as a result of shifting land masses. When the continents separated they took their species and when animals with a common ancestor are isolated from their sister groups, they tend to develop their own independent evolution. Although vicariance offers the best explanation for the distribution patterns of major biotas, dispersion is...