Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
roam and defend large territories while searching for food. Tiger populations are
severely affected by deforestation and loss of habitat, as well as illegal poaching
and trade. Many are killed for their fur as well as other body parts, which in some
Asian cultures are used in medicinal preparations. Tiger bones are thought to give
strength, as well as relieve pain and arthritis. Other tiger parts are sold as aphrodis-
iacs. The Sumatran tiger is critically endangered, with less than 400 remaining.
Tigers are no longer found on Bali and Java. Tigers are present in India and on the
Asian mainland, but these populations are in steep decline.
With the exception of rodents and bats, the mammals of East Malesia are very
different from those in the west. This subregion is home to two additional types
of mammals: monotremes and marsupials. Monotremes are found nowhere else
in the world. Unlike other mammals, monotremes lay eggs instead of giving birth
to live young. Platypus and echidnas are the only monotremes in the world. The
platypus is found only in Australia, mainly along its eastern coast including the
rainforests of Queensland. The platypus spends most of its time in water, hunting
for larvae and small invertebrates. They live in small burrows along the water's
edge.
Echidnas are present in Australia and on the island of New Guinea. The short-
beaked echidna is found in Australia, and the long-beaked echidna inhabits the for-
ests of New Guinea (see Plate XIII). Echidnas are covered with long spines, which
they use in defense. When threatened, the echidna can coil into a ball of spines. In
soft soil, it will quickly bury itself. Echidnas are specialized feeders that eat only
ants and termites, similar to pangolins and armadillos.
Marsupials dominate the mammalian fauna of the East Malesian subregion
east of Wallace's Line and fill the same niches as placental mammals in West
Malesia. Marsupial families include herbivores as well as insectivores and small
carnivores. The long-tailed pygmy possum is one of the smallest of all possums.
They have long prehensile tails and spend their life in the forest canopy, where they
eat insects and collect nectar from flowers. Feather-tailed gliders can transverse as
far as 65 ft (20 m) on one glide. Both of these small possums are nocturnal.
Ringtail possums and gliding possums are medium size and mostly arboreal.
Ringtail possums have prehensile tails that they use as a fifth limb to balance on
tree branches. The common ringtail, green ringtail, and lemuroid ringtail are some
of those found in the rainforests. Like the placental gliders, marsupial gliders have
a membrane between their limbs and body that allow them to glide through the for-
est. The sugar glider is the smallest glider, weighing only 4-6 oz (115-160 g). The
greater glider is the largest, twice the length, and 10 times the weight of the sugar
glider. Both ringtail possums and gliders eat leaves, flowers, and fruit. They will
also take nectar, pollen, sap, and occasionally insects.
Brushtail possums and cuscuses make up another group that occurs in the can-
opy of the East Malesian rainforest. Although they are in the same family, they are
quite different. Brushtail possums are more common in Australia and occur in
many different forest types. Brushtails have a pointed snout, long ears, and hairy
 
 
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