1893.] MAMMALS OF THE BOBITEAIT ISLAJTDS. 493 



Palawan, is drawn immediately to the eastward of the islands of 

 Cagayan Sulu and Sibutii, — whence it is continued through the 

 Macassar Straits south of the Paternoster, Lauriot (Laset Ketjil), 

 and Solombo islets, and in a north-westerly direction through the 

 Karimata Strait back to the island of St. Juhan. 



In attempting thus to define the area within which the neigh- 

 bouring smaller islands may be regarded as being affiliated zoo- 

 logically to Borneo, there exists no guide in many cases bevond 

 their greater proximity to the latter island than to the other large 

 masses of land by which they are more or less closely environed, 

 supplemented by the evidence (often very imperfect) afforded by the 

 soundings shown on our Admiralty charts. The hmits adopted above 

 must therefore be looked upon as being in some degree approxi- 

 mate. Nevertheless, as there are not any islands of considerable 

 size of which the fauna is wholly unknown bordering upon the line 

 of delimitation, it is not probable that material extensions or 

 contractions of the boundary here assumed for the Bomean group 

 as a whole will be necessitated by the result of future field-work. 



Turning to the accompanying hst, it may be remarked that no 

 family of Mammals is peculiar to the group and that only three 

 genera are so, viz. Xasalis, Trklujs, and Bhithrosciunts, which, so 

 far as we know at present, are all confined exclusively to the 

 island of Borneo itself. Peculiar species, however, are fairly 

 numerous, and they are indicated in the Hst by the prefix of a 

 single or double asterisk in accordance with their being confined to 

 Borneo or to the Palawan Sub-group respectively. Although the 

 general facies of the mammahan fauna of the Sub-group is clearly 

 Bornean, it is to be noted that no species appears to be pecuUar to 

 the group as a whole, a fact which suggests the inference that, 

 closely connected as Borneo has undoubtedly been with Balabac 

 and Palawan, and isolated as they have been together from the 

 mainland of Asia, there has also been much isolation of Borneo 

 and Palawan inter se. 



A few of the species enumerated have been no doubt introduced 

 by man. Such are the Common Mouse and the Black and Bro\^-n 

 Eat, with the Buffalo; and it seems probable that the Javan 

 Sambur (Cervus hijypelaphns) and the Elephant owe their presence 

 to the same agency. A few other species which have been credited 

 to Borneo will be found to have been omitted below. Thus ffijlo- 

 bates concolor, Harlan, is almost certainly identical with If. muelleri, 

 Martin. Macacus mauriis, F. Cuv., long believed to inhabit Borneo, 

 has been shown \ to be restricted to the southern peninsula of 

 Celebes and to the neighbouring island of Bouton. There is a 

 stuffed specimen of Canis aureus, Linn., in the Leyden Museum 

 which is labelled as having been collected by Diard in Borneo, but it 

 is more than doubtful whether the locality is corrects The Javan 

 Ehinoceros (B. sondaicus) has been supposed to exist in Borneo, but 

 my inquiries on the subject have failed to elicit any reliable evidence 



Weber, Zool. Ergebn. Niederl. Ost-Ind., Leiden, 1890, p. 103. 

 Blanford, Faun. Brit. India, Mammalia, i. p. 141. 



