1889.] RELATIONSHIPS OF PALAWAN ISLAND. 223 



up of soft decomposable rocks which are readily degraded by denu- 

 dational agencies ; and no one who has watched the larger rivers of 

 the island incessantl)' discharging their yellow mud-laden floods 

 seawards will be disposed to doubt that they must have done much 

 towards shallowing of the Macassar strait. But this agency cannot 

 be called in to explain the existence of the shallow bank connecting 

 Borneo with the Palawan group ; for all the rivers discharging on to 

 this bank are of quite insignificant size, and therefore it may be 

 regarded as having formed for some time past a permanent feature 

 in the local geography, whereas the Macassar bank is a recent feature 

 still in process of construction. The Palawan bank may have been, 

 and almost certainly has been, submerged far below its present level ; 

 but the probability is equal that it has also been elevated into dry 

 land and a temporary junction formed — perhaps more than once — 

 with Borneo. 



Proceeding now to inquire what light is thrown upon the con- 

 nexion of Palawan with Borneo on the one side or the Philippines 

 on the other by the characteristics of the fauna of the Palawan 

 group, we are met with the difficulty that the only classes of animals 

 from these islands which are fairly well known are the mammals 

 and the birds. On the other hand evidence derived from the distri- 

 butional relationships of these two classes has admittedly a high 

 value for the purpose in view. The mammals which are known to 

 exist in the Palawan group are the following : — 



1. Macacus cipiomolgus ... Common to Philippines candlndo-Malaya proper. 



2. Felisminuta Inclo-Malaya Proper and I. of Negros. 



3. Paradoxunis phiUppcnsis Common to Philippines and N. Borneo. 



4. Arctictis Iiintitmng Nepal to Borneo. 



5. Herpestes brachi/iirus . . . Malay Peninsula and Borneo. 



f). Mi/dmi.% sp. (?)' Sumatra, Java, and N. and E. Borneo. 



7. Lidra, sp Genus abundant in N. Borneo. 



8. Tragulu>i javanicus Indo-Malaja Proper and I. of Balabac. 



9. 6'as, sp Genus common to Philippines and Borneo. 



10. Sciuropfenis alhoniger ... Nepal to Cambodja. 



11. Sciurus steerii Allied to iS'.,/er«<^iMeM« of Assam, Burmah, and 



Siam. 



12. Mas, sp Genus common to Philippines and Borneo. 



13. Hystrix pumila Genus abundant in N. Borneo. 



14. Tupaia javanica Indo-Malaya Proper. Abundant in Borneo. 



15. ferruginea Lido-Malaya Proj)er. Abundant in Borneo. 



l(i. Fteropus hypomelanus ... Philippines, Borneo, Celebes, and N. Guinea. 



17. Kcrivoula hardwickii ... India, Java, Borneo. 



18. Manis, sp Genus very abundant in N. Borneo. 



The above enumeration shows that the Palawan group possesses a 

 mammalian fauna (exclusive of Bats) comparable in variety of species 

 and genera with that of the entire Philippine Archipelago. Of the 

 species composing this fauna only one, the Paradoxure, namely, can 

 be regarded as a distinctively Philippine species, and even that one 

 occurs also in Northern Borneo. The remaining mammals, after 

 putting on one side those which are common to the Philippines and 



' This animal has ne\er been actually obtained, I believe, by any collector, 

 but it has frequently been described to me by Europeans as well as by natives. 



