Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Malesia: the brush-tailed and crested porcupines are found throughout the region,
while the long-tailed porcupines are endemic to Southeast Asia.
Rats and mice are less abundant. Fewer than 50 species of rats, mice, and bam-
boo rats occur in this region. Most are terrestrial, although many are excellent
climbers. Mice tend to feed on fruits, seeds, and grasses, while rats also eat insects,
mollusks, or crabs. The family of Old World mice and rats (Muridae) is the only
one to have reached Australia and New Guinea. Forty-five species of rats and mice
are found in New Guinea and five (three shared with New Guinea) are found in
the Australian rainforest. Within these forests, marsupial counterparts to rats and
mice occupy many of the available niches. Bamboo rats are a small family of
rodents that live in the West Malesia subregion. They are fossorial but come to the
surface to forage. Bamboo rats are most commonly found in bamboo forests and
agricultural lands, eating roots and shoots.
Colugos are the single representative of the order Dermoptera. They are some-
times called ''flying lemurs,'' because they can glide and look similar to lemurs
even though they are not closely related. They are medium-size animals with a
large, furry membrane that extends from the neck to tail. This membrane allows
colugos to glide long distances with great maneuverability. Their feet have long,
sharp claws for holding onto bark and branches. Colugos feed on fruit, young
leaves, and flowers. They are nocturnal and sleep on tree branches or hollow trees
during the day. They hang upside down while feeding and while traveling along
branches. Colugos inhabit the West Malesian rainforests of Southeast Asia and the
southern Philippines.
Primates are abundant in the West Malesian subregion of the Asian-Pacific
rainforest but are absent in the East Malesian subregion. Lorises, tarsiers, gibbons,
macaques, langurs, proboscis monkeys, leaf monkeys, and orangutans inhabit
these rainforest. Lorises are slow-moving primitive primates from the rainforests of
Asia. Slender lorises are found in the forests of India and Sri Lanka, and slow lor-
ises are found in Southeastern Asia. Lorises are small, with thick fur, forward-fac-
ing eyes, and little to no tail. They are arboreal and grasp tree limbs with their
hands and feet. They rest in tree hollows or on branches. Lorises are active at night
and their diets include insects, shoots, young leaves, fruits, eggs, and small verte-
brates. They consume all parts of their prey, including feathers, scales, and bones
of the vertebrates, as well as the exoskeletons of insects.
Tarsiers are limited to Southeast Asia, eastern India, and some of the Philip-
pine Islands. They are small primates with silky, buff, grayish-brown, or dark
brown fur and round heads with large forward-directed eyes. Their muzzles are
short, and they seem to have almost no neck. The hindlimbs are longer than their
forelimbs, enabling them to make long leaps. They are nocturnal and strictly arbo-
real. During the day, they sleep in dense vegetation, usually on a vertical branch or
in a hollow tree. They feed on insects and small vertebrates that they capture by
leaping and quickly grabbing their prey with their hands. Tarsiers live in family
groups or by themselves.
