FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61  
62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   >>   >|  
emale may be like, owing to the extreme isolation of the species, and its want of close affinity to any other known insect. One of the most curious and interesting reptiles which I met with in Borneo was a large tree-frog, which was brought me by one of the Chinese workmen. He assured me that he had seen it come down in a slanting direction from a high tree, as if it flew. On examining it, I found the toes very long and fully webbed to their very extremity, so that when expanded they offered a surface much larger than the body. The forelegs were also bordered by a membrane, and the body was capable of considerable inflation. The back and limbs were of a very deep shining green colour, the undersurface and the inner toes yellow, while the webs were black, rayed with yellow. The body was about four inches long, while the webs of each hind foot, when fully expanded, covered a surface of four square inches, and the webs of all the feet together about twelve square inches. As the extremities of the toes have dilated discs for adhesion, showing the creature to be a true tree frog, it is difficult to imagine that this immense membrane of the toes can be for the purpose of swimming only, and the account of the Chinaman, that it flew down from the tree, becomes more credible. This is, I believe, the first instance known of a "flying frog," and it is very interesting to Darwinians as showing that the variability of the toes which have been already modified for purposes of swimming and adhesive climbing, have been taken advantage of to enable an allied species to pass through the air like the flying lizard. It would appear to be a new species of the genus Rhacophorus, which consists of several frogs of a much smaller size than this, and having the webs of the toes less developed. During my stay in Borneo I had no hunter to shoot for me regularly, and, being myself fully occupied with insects, I did not succeed in obtaining a very good collection of the birds or Mammalia, many of which, however, are well known, being identical with species found in Malacca. Among the Mammalia were five squirrels,and two tigercats--the Gymnurus Rafesii, which looks like a cross between a pig and a polecat, and the Cynogale Bennetti--a rare, otter-like animal, with very broad muzzle clothed with long bristles. One of my chief objects in coming to stay at Simunjon was to see the Orangutan (or great man-like ape of Borneo) in his native haunts, to
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61  
62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
species
 

Borneo

 
inches
 

square

 
swimming
 
membrane
 
expanded
 

surface

 

showing

 

flying


yellow

 

interesting

 

Mammalia

 

insects

 

developed

 

hunter

 

occupied

 

regularly

 

During

 

Rhacophorus


enable

 

allied

 

advantage

 

modified

 
purposes
 
adhesive
 

climbing

 

lizard

 

consists

 

smaller


muzzle

 
clothed
 
bristles
 

animal

 

Cynogale

 

Bennetti

 

objects

 

coming

 

native

 
haunts

Simunjon
 
Orangutan
 

polecat

 

identical

 
succeed
 

obtaining

 

collection

 

Malacca

 

Rafesii

 
Gymnurus