THE ORIENTAL REGION 149 



The endemic genera of Celebes are four in number, 

 and judging from their affinities, it is impossible to believe 

 that they have any relation to the animals now living in 

 the Australian Region. Everything points to their being 

 remains of a very ancient fauna, which must have been 

 originally derived from the Asiatic continent. 



The presence of the three Australian genera in Celebes 

 does not in any way require the supposition of an ancient 

 land- connection with that Region. This is obviously so in 

 the case of the Bats, and the Phalanger is a strictly arboreal 

 animal, and might easily have been drifted across a narrow 

 strait on floating timber. On the other hand, to account 

 for the greater proportion of Oriental forms found in the 

 island, we are driven to the conclusion that at some time or 

 other there has been some sort of land-connection between 

 Celebes and the mainland of Asia. These are the prin- 

 cipal reasons for transferring the island of Celebes from 

 the Australian to the Oriental Region. 1 



Section VIII. — The Past History of the Oriental 

 Mammal-fauna 



Considerable controversy has arisen from time to time 

 with regard to the similarities that undoubtedly exist 

 between the faunas of the Oriental and Ethiopian Regions. 

 Some writers have urged that, in order to account for this, 

 some form of direct land- connection must have existed at 

 one time or another across the Indian Ocean between 



1 For the most recent information on the mammals of Celebes see 

 Meyer, " Saugethiere von Celebes und Philippinen-Archipelago," Abh. 

 Mus. Dresden, vi., No. 6. 



