LESSER SUNDA ISLANDS. 29 



that our knowledge of the fauna of these islands is very incomplete, have not 

 yet been found on any of the Lesser Sunda Islands. 



The Sarasins have postulated a second bridge to account for such distribu- 

 tions as these, of which there are a considerable number. They propose a Java 

 Bridge, connecting Java and Celebes, as well as a Flores Bridge, extending from 

 Flores to Celebes. 



That the Lesser Sunda Islands remained connected with one another after 

 their separation from Java and Celebes seems probable, because we find a con- 

 siderable number of species which are peculiar to the group and occur upon more 

 than one island. 



Only two turtles are known from the area: — one, from Timor, distinctly 

 Malayan in its origin, is described as a subspecies of Amyda cartilaginea, but 

 it is probably specifically distinct, and may be known as A. newtoni Ferreira; 

 the other is Chelodina novae-guineae, which has been reported by van Lidth de 

 Jeude from Rotti, a small island almost a part of Timor. 



Crocodilus porosus is the single crocodilean in the region; so far we know it 

 is from Timor only, though there is no reason to suppose that it does not occur 

 upon the other islands. 



Lizards are recorded from the various islands as follows : — from Bali, a 

 single species, the wide-ranging and common Cryptoblepharis houtonii; from 

 Lombok seven; from Flores, eleven; from Ombaai nine; from Timor eleven; 

 and from Sumba eight. 



The following lizards are peculiar to this group of islands, and are not 

 confined to a single island : — Draco timorensis occurs on Timor and Ombaai, 

 adjacent islands; Sphenomorphus fiorensis occurs on Flores, Ombaai, and Timor, 

 three islands which form an almost continuous series; S. emigrans occurs on 

 Flores and Sumba, again a case of adjacent islands. Varanus timorensis, on 

 the other hand, has a widely discontinuous range; while originally described 

 from Timor, it has since been found in Queensland, but, so far as is known, does 

 not occur elsewhere. 



The genus Gonyocephalus is absent from all these islands, though species 

 are known from both sides of the region, viz. from the Greater Sunda Islands, 

 and from New Guinea; this anomalous condition is probably to be explained 

 by the fact that the distribution took place through land bridges which include 

 some of the Philippines, where species also occur, so that the dispersal of this 

 genus had nothing to do with the region under discussion. 



Of snakes, again, we know from Bali only a single, common wide-ranging 



