In
Old Animals They Reach An Enormous Size, And Are Generally Broken
Off As If By Fighting.
Here again we have a resemblance to the Wart-hogs of Africa,
whose upper canines grow outwards and curve
Up so as to form a
transition from the usual mode of growth to that of the Babirusa.
In other respects there seems no affinity between these animals,
and the Babirusa stands completely isolated, having no
resemblance to the pigs of any other part of the world. It is
found all over Celebes and in the Sula islands, and also in
Bourn, the only spot beyond the Celebes group to which it
extends; and which island also shows some affinity to the Sula
islands in its birds, indicating perhaps, a closer connection
between them at some former period than now exists.
The other terrestrial mammals of Celebes are five species of
squirrels, which are all distinct from those of Java and Borneo,
and mark the furthest eastward range of the genus in the tropics;
and two of Eastern opossums (Cuscus), which are different from
those of the Moluccas, and mark the furthest westward extension
of this genus and of the Marsupial order. Thus we see that the
Mammalia of Celebes are no less individual and remarkable than
the birds, since three of the largest and most interesting
species have no near allies in surrounding countries, but seem
vaguely to indicate a relation to the African continent.
Many groups of insects appear to be especially subject to local
influences, their forms and colours changing with each change of
conditions, or even with a change of locality where the
conditions seem almost identical. We should therefore anticipate
that the individuality manifested in the higher animals would be
still more prominent in these creatures with less stable
organisms. On the other hand, however, we have to consider that
the dispersion and migration of insects is much more easily
effected than that of mammals or even of birds. They are much
more likely to be carried away by violent winds; their eggs may
be carried on leaves either by storms of wind or by floating
trees, and their larvae and pupae, often buried in trunks of
trees or enclosed in waterproof cocoons, may be floated for days
or weeks uninjured over the ocean. These facilities of
distribution tend to assimilate the productions of adjacent lands
in two ways: first, by direct mutual interchange of species; and
secondly, by repeated immigrations of fresh individuals of a
species common to other islands, which by intercrossing, tend to
obliterate the changes of form and colour, which differences of
conditions might otherwise produce. Bearing these facts in mind,
we shall find that the individuality of the insects of Celebes is
even greater than we have any reason to expect.
For the purpose of insuring accuracy in comparisons with other
islands, I shall confine myself to those groups which are best
known, or which I have myself carefully studied. Beginning with
the Papilionidae or Swallow-tailed butterflies, Celebes possesses
24 species, of which the large number of 18 are not found in any
other island.
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