CHAP. XIII.] 
THE AUSTRALIAN REGION. 
417 
the Oriental and Australian regions, has probably occurred during 
the entire Tertiary and Post-tertiary periods. 
Insects. — The general character of the Papuan insects has 
been sufficiently indicated in our sketch of the Entomology of 
the region. We will here only add, that the metallic lustre so 
prevalent among the birds, is also apparent in such insects as 
Sphingnotus mirabilis ,a most brilliant metallic Longicorn; Lomap- 
tera wallacei and Anacamptorhina fulgida , Cetonii of intense 
lustre; Ccdodema wallacei among the Buprestidae ; and the ele- 
gant blue Eupholi among the weevils. Even among moths 
we have Cocytia durvillii, remarkable for its brilliant metallic 
colours. 
The Moluccas— The islands of Gilolo, Bouru, and Ceram, with 
several smaller islands adjacent, together with Sanguir, and 
perhaps Tulour or Salibaboo to the north-west, and the islands 
from Ke to Timor-Laut to the south-east, form the group of the 
Moluccas or Spice-Islands, remarkable for the luxuriance of 
their vegetation and the extreme beauty of their birds and 
insects. Their Mammalia are of Papuan character, with some 
foreign intermixture. Two genera of the New Guinea marsu- 
pials, Belideus and Cuscus, abound ; and we have also the wide- 
spread Sus. But besides these, we find no less than five genera 
of placental Mammals quite foreign to the Papuan or Australian 
faunas. These are 1. Cynopithecus nigrescens, found only in the 
small island of Batchian, and probably introduced from Celebes, 
where the same ape occurs. 2. Vivcrra tangalunga, a common 
Indo-Malayan species of civet, probably introduced. 3. Cervus 
hippelaphus, var. Moluccensds } a deer abundant in all the islands, 
very close to a Javan species and almost certainly introduced 
by man, perhaps very long ago. 4. Babirusa alfurus, the 
babirusa, found only in the island of Bouru, and perhaps origi- 
nally introduced from Celebes. 5. Sorex sp., small shrews. 
With the exception of the last, all these species are animals 
habitually domesticated and kept in confinement by the Malays ; 
and when we consider that none of the smaller Mammalia of Java 
and Borneo, numbering at least fifty different species, are found 
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