20 The Philippine Journal of Science 1923 



tiates three, all starting in the Himalayan region, the first of 

 which reached Australia, the second only as far as the Phil- 

 ippines and Celebes, while the third terminated in Java. These 

 successive invasions necessitated corresponding land connec- 

 tions. In reverse order, the corresponding land bridges dis- 

 appeared from east to west, and thus established more and more 

 contracted limits to the spread of western elements. How 

 illogical this explanation is can readily be seen in the westward 

 distribution of Australian types of plants and animals. If the 

 first break came east of Celebes we would logically expect to 

 find about as many Australian types west of Celebes as we find 

 in Celebes, for according to Schuster Celebes would then be 

 connected with Asia As a matter of fact, Australian types of 

 animals are practically absent in western Malaysia, while very 

 few Australian types of plants are to be found here, in contrast 

 to the considerable number of both found in Celebes, in eastern 

 Malaysia as a whole, and in the Philippines. Barbour 25 notes 

 that the supposed Papuasian element in the Javan fauna, which 

 has been emphasized by Warner, is probably entirely nonexistent. 

 He states that the fauna of Sumatra, Borneo, and Java has been 

 entirely derived from the Malay Peninsula region. If Schuster 

 be correct we would also expect to find in Celebes a considerable 

 number of Dipterocarpaceae, proportionally as many as we have 

 in the Philippines. Doctor Molengraaff s explanation of the 

 geologic history of eastern Malaysia is more logical and more 

 convincing than is that of Doctor Schuster. 



From the data presented by Doctor Schuster my general con- 

 clusions would be that the low-altitude Pleistocene climatic 

 conditions in Java were approximately identical with those 

 existing to-day; that the forest flora represented in the Trinil 

 beds was practically the same as the low-altitude tropical 

 forests of western Malaysia as they exist to-day; and that, hence 

 these forests were definitely tropical ones and not at all of the 

 temperate-zone type. 



The most important fact brought out by Doctor Schuster is 

 that the low-altitude Pleistocene Malaysian flora was practically 

 identical with our modern one, indicating how very slow spe- 

 cific changes have been in Java, which is also true in the Philip- 

 pines. The Javan Pleistocene fossil flora and the Luzon Pliocene 

 fossil flora present only impressions that can absolutely be 

 2S Op. cit. 165. 



