The geographical distribution of animals, with a study of the relations ...

;chap, xii.] THE ORIENTAL REGION. 337animals whose body is not larger than a rabbit's, thence oftencalled " mouse-deer." They were formerly classed with the" musk-deer," owing to their similar tusk-like upper caninesbut their anatomy shows them to form quite a distinct family,having more resemblance to the camels. On the branch aboveis the curious feather-tailed Tree-Shrew (Ptilocerus lowii), a smallinsectivorous animal altogether peculiar to Borneo.Above thisis the strange little Tarsier {Tarsius spectrum), one of the lemursconfined to the Malay islands, but so distinct from all others asto constitute a separate family. The other small animals aretheFlying Lemurs (Galceopithecus volans) formerly classed withthe lemurs, but now considered to belong to the Insectivora.They have a very large expansion of the skin connecting thefore and hind limbs and tail, and are able to take long flightsfrom one tree to another, and even to rise over obstacles in theircourse by the elevatory power of the tail-membrane. Theyfeed chiefly on leaves, and have a very soft and beautifullymarbled fur.In the distance is the Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus), arepresentative of a group of animals now confined to the largerMalay islands and tropical America, but which once rangedover the greater part of temperate Europe.Birds.—Owing to several of the families consisting of veryobscure and closeby alliedspecies, which have never been criticallyexamined and compared by a competent ornithologist,the number of birds inhabiting this sub-region is uncertain.From the best available materials there appear to be somewhatless than 650 species of land-birds actually known, or excludingthe Philippine Islands somewhat less than 600. Thelarger part of these are peculiar species, but mostly allied tothose of Indo-China ; 36 of the genera, as already stated, beingcommon to these two sub-regions. There are, however, no lessthan 46 genera which are peculiarly or wholly Indo Malayanand, in many cases, have no close affinity with other Orientalgroups. These peculiar genera are as follows :— Timalia, Malacopteron,Macronus, Napoilwra,Turdinus, and Trichixos—genera