ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some main theories available for zoogeographers in an analysis of animal distribution patterns. Their cardinal problems are to give answers to such questions as the origin of the center, role, and direction of dispersal. In the analysis of the distributional pattern of amphistomes the statements of phylogenetic biogeography have been used as general guidelines. Amphistomes are parasitic mainly in freshwater and land vertebrates, but some taxa have adapted themselves to the marine way of life. The acquisition of the amphistomes by amphibians revealed a diverse form from what took place in fishes. The amphistomes of the reptiles are confined mainly to the subfamilies Schizamphistominae, Nematophilinae, and Caballerodiscinae. The areographic analysis of amphistomes seems to be reasonable to perform, due to the low number of species and their distributional data concerned, by zoogeographic realms. Such examinations present details on the quality, similarity of faunas, and on the independent development of amphistomes of the given realms.
