Note 3 — INTRODUCTION

The flora of the Andamans and Cocos contains a number of species, the presence of which can only be explained by the supposition of a past land connection with the Arakan region. (See Prain, “The Vegetation of the Coco Group,” Journ. Asiatic Soc. of Bengal, Vol. LX, Part II, pp. 283–406.) On the other hand, the paucity of mammalian fauna is such as to lead to the conclusion that the islands were isolated at a period when the mammals now typical of the mainland did not exist there. (See Miller, “Mammals of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands,” Proc. National Museum, U.S.A. Vol. XXIV). ↑