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

chap, xiii.] THE AUSTRALIAN REGION. 417the Oriental and Australian regions, has probably occurred duringthe entire Tertiary and Post-tertiary periods.Insects.—The general character of the Papuan insects hasbeen sufficiently indicated in our sketch of the Entomology ofthe region. We will here only add, that the metallic lustre soprevalent among the birds, is also apparent in such insects asSphingnotus mirabilis,a, most brilliant metallic Longicorn ; Lomapteraivallacei and Anacamptorhina fidgicla, Cetonii of intenselustre ; Calodema ivallacei among the Buprestidae ;and the elegantblue Eaplioli among the weevils. Even among mothswe have Cocytia durvillii, remarkable for its brilliant metalliccolours.The Moluccas.—The islands of Gilolo, Bouru, and Ceram, withseveral smaller islands adjacent, together with Sanguir, andperhaps Tulour or Salibaboo to the north-west, and the islandsfrom Ke to Timor-Laut to the south-east, form the group of theMoluccas or Spice- Islands, remarkable for the luxuriance oftheir vegetation and the extreme beauty of their birds andinsects. Their Mammalia are of Papuan character, with someforeign intermixture. Two genera of the New Guinea marsupials,Belideus and Cuscus, abound ; and we have also the widespreadSus. But besides these, we find no less than five generaof placental Mammals quite foreign to the Papuan or Australianfaunas. These are 1. Cynopithecus nigrescens, found only in thesmall island of Batchian, and probably introduced from Celebes,where the same ape occurs. 2. Viverra tangalunga, a commonIndo-Malayan species of civet, probably introduced. 3. Cervushippelaphus, var.Moluccensis, a deer abundant in all the islands,very close to a Javan species and almost certainly introducedby man, perhaps very long ago. 4. Babirusa alfurus, thebabirusa, found only in the island of Bouru, and perhaps originallyintroduced from Celebes. 5. Sorex sp., small shrews.With the exception of the last, all these species are animalshabitually domesticated and kept in confinement by the Malays ;and when we consider that none of the smaller Mammalia of Javaand Borneo, numbering at least fifty different species, are found