An introduction to the study of mammals living and extinctLydekker, Richard
Science
An introduction to the study of mammals living and extinct
Lydekker, Richard
Mammals
_Galeopithecus_ (Flying Lemur) are peculiar to this region, although not
found in India. Finally, in the Primates we have the genera _Macacus_
and _Semnopithecus_ very abundantly represented, although both also
enter the Palæarctic region; but the Anthropoid types are confined to
the south-eastern half of the region, and include the Orangs (_Simia_)
of Borneo, and the smaller long-armed Gibbons (_Hylobates_), which are
abundant in the Malay peninsula, both genera not being found beyond this
region. The Lemurs are much less abundant than in the Ethiopian region,
but they include the peculiar Tarsier of Sumatra, Borneo, and Celebes
(Austro-Malayan region), which differs so markedly in dentition and
structure of the feet from all other forms that it has been made the type
of a separate family. The Edentates, so poorly represented in the Old
World, include only Pangolins (_Manis_), which, as we have already seen,
also occur in the Ethiopian region.
_Australasian Region._—With the fourth or Australasian region we come
to a mammalian fauna so peculiar that we have no difficulty whatever
in defining it from all the other regions of the globe, although it
should be observed that in the Austro-Malayan islands we have a partial
mingling of the Australasian and Malayan faunas. If we exclude Celebes
from this region we find that, with the exception of a Pig in New Guinea,
of the Dingo in Australia, of numerous Mice and Rats (_Muridæ_), and
Bats, there are no Eutherian mammals throughout the area. The mammals
of this region are restricted to the Australian mainland, the island of
Tasmania, New Guinea, and the Aru islands, the whole area of New Zealand
having been totally devoid of mammalian life until introduced by man.
The whole of the Monotremata, constituting the subclass Prototheria, and
all the Marsupials, exclusive of the few outlying forms ranging into the
transitional Austro-Malayan area, and with the exception of the American
family of the Opossums (_Didelphyidæ_), are absolutely confined to this
region.
_Celebes._—The mammals of Celebes—the typical representative of the
Austro-Malayan transitional region or sub-region—include the peculiar Ape
known as _Cynopithecus_, _Tarsius_ (also Oriental), the Anoa, and the
single species of _Babirusa_. Several other types of placental mammals
are found in this transitional area, while the Marsupials are represented
by _Phalanger_ and _Petaurus_.
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