PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
WASHINGTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
Vol. III, pp. 111-138. March 26, 1901
By Gerrit S. Miller, Jr.
About three months during the spring and summer of 1900were spent by Dr. W. L. Abbott in exploring the NatunaIslands in the South China Sea.[1]Specimens were collected atthe following localities: Pulo Midei, or Low Island (May 23-26),Pulo Seraia (May 29), Sirhassen Island (June 1-10), PuloSubi (June 12-13), Pulo Lingung (June 17-19), Bunguran, orGreat Natuna Island (June 24-July 31) and Pulo Laut, orNorth Natuna Island (August 5-13). About 265 mammalswere obtained, all of which have been presented to the UnitedStates National Museum. This paper contains an account ofthese, and is published here by permission of the Secretary ofthe Smithsonian Institution.
Two extensive collections of mammals had been made onthe Natuna Islands previous to Dr. Abbott's visit, the first byMr. A. Everett during September and October, 1893, the secondby Mr. Ernest Hose during July, August, September andOctober, 1894. These have formed, either wholly or in part, thebasis of several papers,[2]which constitute the literature relating to[112]the mammals of the islands.[3]Twenty-eight land mammals havebeen recorded as actually represented by specimens, thoughseveral others are mentioned which the collectors ascertained tooccur. Dr. Abbott secured forty-four species, but failed to obtainseven[4]of those previously taken. The total number ofmammals collected on the islands thus becomes fifty-one. Thisincrease is due, in part to the recognition of a larger number ofinsular forms than has been admitted by previous writers, butalso to a considerable extent to the actual addition of speciesnot hitherto taken. Species new in the latter sense are distinguishedin the present paper by absence of reference to previousrecords.
In regard to the faunal relationships of the Natunas, whetherpredominantly Bornean or Peninsular, about which much hasbeen written,[5]it may be said that this collection, together withmuch of the other work recently done by Dr. Abbott, tends toshow that there is greater general uniformity in the mammalianfauna of Borneo, the Malay Peninsula, and the interveningislands than has been hitherto supposed. It seems unprofitabletherefore to offer conjectures as to the probability of greaternearness of the Natuna mammals as a whole to those of Borneoor to those of the Malay Peninsula.
1895. Manis javanica Thomas and Hartert,Novitates Zoologicæ, II, p.492. December, 1895 (Bunguran).
An adult male was taken on Bunguran, June 24, 1900. Totallength 914; head and body 508; tail 406.
Type.—Adult male (skin and skull) No. 104604 U. S. NationalMuseum. Collected on Bungur