Island Life; Or, The Phenomena and Causes of Insular Faunas and FlorasWallace, Alfred Russel
Science
Island Life; Or, The Phenomena and Causes of Insular Faunas and Floras
Wallace, Alfred Russel
Biogeography; Glacial epoch; Island ecology
_Bird-types Peculiar to Celebes._--First we have Artamides, one of the
Campephaginae or caterpillar-shrikes--a not very well-marked genus, and
which may have been derived, either from the Malayan or the Moluccan side
of the Archipelago. Two peculiar genera of kingfishers--Monachalcyon and
Cittura--seem allied, the former to the widespread Todiramphus and to the
Caridonax of Lombok, the latter to the Australian Melidora. Another
kingfisher, Ceycopsis, combines the characters of the Malayan Ceyx and the
African Ispidina, and thus forms an example of an ancient generalised form
analogous to what occurs among the mammalia. Streptocitta is a peculiar
form allied to the magpies; while Basilornis (found also in Ceram), Enodes,
and Scissirostrum, are very peculiar starlings, the latter altogether
unlike any other bird, and perhaps forming a distinct sub-family. Meropogon
is a peculiar bee-eater, allied to the Malayan Nyctiornis; Rhamphococyx is
a modification of Phaenicophaes, a Malayan genus of cuckoos; Prioniturus
(found also in the Philippines) is a genus of parrots distinguished by
raquet-formed tail feathers, altogether unique in the order; while
Megacephalon is a remarkable and very isolated form of the Australian
Megapodiidae, or mound-builders.
Omitting those whose affinity may be pretty clearly traced to groups still
inhabiting the islands of the western or the eastern half of the
Archipelago, we find four birds which have no near allies at all, but
appear to be either ancestral forms, or extreme modifications, of Asiatic
or {460} African birds--Basilornis, Enodes, Scissirostrum, Ceycopsis. These
may fairly be associated with the baboon-ape, anoa, and babirusa, as
indicating extreme antiquity and some communication with the Asiatic
continent at a period when the forms of life and their geographical
distribution differed considerably from what they are at the present time.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account