Manis
| Manis | ||||||||||||
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Indian pangolin ( Manis crassicaudata ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the subfamily | ||||||||||||
| Maninae | ||||||||||||
| Gray , 1821 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Manis | ||||||||||||
| Linnaeus , 1758 |
Manis is a genus from the family of dandruff animals (Manidae) and includes the Asian representative. Today it iswidespreadin South , Southeast and Southeast Asia and consists of four species, plus a few extinct forms. The individual species are adapted to different forest and partly open landscapes. They live solitary and feed on termites and insects , which are mainly captured at night. Outwardly their most striking feature is a scale armor, the structure of which differs somewhat from that of the African pangolins. Intensive hunting for food supply for humans and the use of the animals in local customs and especially in traditional Chinese medicine led some stocks of the genus Manis to the brink of extinction.
features
The representatives of the genus Manis are medium-sized to large pangolins. Smaller forms such as the Malay pangolin ( Manis javanica ) or the Palawan pangolin ( Manis culionensis ) only reach a head-trunk length of about 35 to 54 cm, with the large front Indian pangolin ( Manis crassicaudata ) it is up to 84 cm. The tail is usually shorter than the rest of the body. Overall, it becomes 25 to 71 cm long. In the case of predominantly tree-dwellers, however, it is significantly longer than that of ground-dwellers, so the tail of the Palawan pangolin ( Manis culionenesis ) can take up to 90% of the head-trunk length. The body weight varies between 2.5 and 10 kg for the smaller and up to 20 kg for the larger species. In the Pleistocene , a form appeared with Manis palaeojavanica , which is the largest known representative of the pangolin with a total length of 2.5 m. The skull is conical or pear-shaped with an elongated mostly strong rostrum . The eyes are usually small, the ears stand out in comparison to the African pangolins through a thickened skin bulge. Like all pangolins, the Manis species also have scale armor that covers the top of the head, the back and the flanks, the tail and the outside of the legs. The individual scales are V-shaped with tips pointing backwards. They form rows arranged across the body and overlap like roof tiles. On the center line of the back runs a single row of scales, which, in contrast to the African representatives, extends to the tip of the tail. In contrast to the African species, long thin hairs also grow between the scales. The unscaled parts of the body are often only sparsely hairy. The generally short and strong limbs end in front and back in five clawed rays. The inner and outer rays are significantly shorter than the three middle ones, but have the same length on the hind feet of the Asian pangolins. The middle claw of the forefoot is extended to a grave claw. On the hind foot, the middle claw clearly exceeds the claw of the fourth ray, while both are of the same length in the African pangolins. In general, the claws of the hind feet are on average longer in arboreal species than in ground-dwelling species.
distribution and habitat
All representatives of Manis are found exclusively in Asia today and are distributed there from South Asia through Southeast Asia and parts of the Malay Archipelago to southern East Asia. In the late Pliocene , the genus was also present in south-eastern Europe . The habitat is primarily tropical rainforests, but also other forest landscapes and various open-air areas through to desert-like dry regions.
Way of life
Territorial behavior
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The different Manis species live solitary and are nocturnal, so the way of life is only partially known. The main activity times are distributed differently, but the main phase usually lasts up to two hours. They live on the ground as well as on trees, move at ground level on all fours, in the trees they climb like caterpillars with their backs stretching and bending. The long tail helps to provide protection and is usually wrapped around the trunk. They are also quite good swimmers. The Asian pangolins create earthworks, but also use tree hollows. In immediate danger, the animals curl up in a ball, the tail then covers the unscaled parts of the body.
nutrition
The main diet consists of insects that form colonies such as termites and ants . Only the Indian pangolin is less strictly myrmecophagous and also eats other insects. Food is sought with the excellent sense of smell . When making a choice, however, the animals are often very selective and only prefer representatives of certain types of insects. The pangolins use the elongated central claw of the forefeet to tear open the nests of ants and termites. Food is taken in with the long, sticky tongue, which can be stuck very far out of the mouth.
Reproduction
The reproduction of the individual species in the genus Manis has not been adequately researched. With the exception of the Chinese pangolin ( Manis pentadactyla ), reproduction is not seasonally restricted. Usually two to three months are estimated for the gestation period . Usually only one young is born, the embryo develops in one of the two horns of the uterus . The young are well developed with open eyes and soft scales and can crawl immediately after birth. In the beginning they spend in the construction, later they leave it and ride on the tail root of the mother animal. Weaning may be complete in three months. Nothing is known about life expectancy in the wild.
Systematics
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Internal systematics of the Manidae according to Gaubert et al. 2018
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Manis is a genus from the family of the shed animals (Manidae). Within the pangolins, two other genera are distinguished: Smutsia and Phataginus . While Manis unites all the Asian representatives of the family, the other two include the African representatives. Furthermore, the genus Manis is the only member of the monotypical subfamily Maninae, the African species are referred to in the subfamilies of the Smutsiinae and Phatagininae . Accordingly, Manis is the sister taxon of the two African genera. The pangolins in turn make the currently only member of the order represents the Pholidota. They are spacious with the predators used (Carnivora), but only as a result of molecular genetics could be recognized examinations.
The generic independence of the African pangolins was not always handled uniformly in the past. Some of the African species are also listed within the genus Manis , in which case Smutsia and Phataginus then take on the status of subgenus. Anatomical and phylogenetic studies speak for a stronger differentiation of the pangolin family. The Asian representatives form a monophyletic , self-contained group, while the African ones appear more heterogeneous. This advocates a separation of the African from the Asian species. According to molecular genetic studies, the phylogenetic splitting of the two groups may have occurred as early as the Middle or Upper Eocene , about 46.9 to 37.9 million years ago.
Taking these aspects into account, a total of four recent species are known within the genus Manis . Accordingly, the subfamily of the Maninae and the genus Manis is structured as follows:
- Subfamily: Maninae Gray , 1821
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- Manis (= Pangolinus , Paramanis , Pholidotus ) Linnaeus , 1758
- Front Indian pangolin or India pangolin ( Manis crassicaudata Geoffroy , 1803); South asia
- Chinese pangolin or ear pangolin or China pangolin ( Manis pentadactyla Linnaeus , 1758); southern East Asia, northern Southeast Asia, northern South Asia
- Palawan pangolin or Filipino pangolin ( Manis culionensis ( de Elera , 1915)); Palawan
- Malay pangolin or Malay pangolin or Javanese pangolin ( Manis javanica Desmarest , 1822); South East Asia
Partly two sub-genera are identified within the genus Manis : Manis Gray , 1821 and Paramanis Pocock , 1924. The former includes the front Indian and the Chinese pangolin, the latter the Malay and the Palawan pangolin. From a genetic point of view, the four Asiatic species of pangolin form a more heterogeneous family group.
In addition, the following fossil species are recognized, but they are not classified in a specific sub-genus:
- Manis hungarica Kormos , 1934
- Manis lydekkeri Dubois , 1908
- Manis palaeojavanica Dubois , 1907
The first description of Manis , recognized today, was provided by Linnaeus in his work Systema Naturae in 1758 . With M. pentadactyla he mentioned only one species, the Chinese pangolin, which is also to be regarded as a type species . The name Manis goes back to the Manen ( Latin manes ), Roman spirits of the dead, and refers to the nocturnal and mostly hidden way of life. The name Manidae as a name for the pangolin family, from which the subfamily Maninae is derived, was introduced by John Edward Gray in 1821.
Tribal history
Fossil finds of representatives of the genus Manis are only known to a few. The oldest evidence dates to the end of the Pliocene and comes with Manis hungarica from southeastern Europe . In the Pleistocene , two other species appeared with Manis lydekkeri and Manis palaeojavanica . The former is only documented via an end phalange of the forefoot from India , the latter comprises a partial skeleton from the island of Java , which belongs to the largest known representative of the pangolin. In the course of the Pleistocene, the Malay pangolin was also detected for the first time, which occurs in the Niah caves on Borneo , among other places . Finds of the Palawan pangolin belong to the early Holocene .
Threat and protection
The Asian pangolins are widely used by humans. Their meat serves as a source of food, both locally for protein supply and internationally as an exotic specialty. In addition, the scales and numerous other parts of the body are said to have healing properties that make them attractive for traditional Chinese medicine , among other things , but also for other regional customs. The resulting hunting of the Asiatic pangolins by humans has a long tradition, but it was only the internationalization of trade in the second half of the 20th century that increased the pressure on the populations of the various species of Manis considerably. Between 1958 and 1965 alone, over 60 tons of pangolin scales were legally exported from Sarawak . Most of the animals caught or killed come from wild populations, so far, breeding measures have only rarely been successful because pangolins rarely reproduce in human care. This brought some stocks to the brink of collapse in some regions, which is especially the case in the northern distribution area, so that pangolins are rare there today. Asian pangolins have been subject to the Washington Convention on the Protection of Species (CITES) since the year 2000, so trade in the animals or their body parts is prohibited ( CITES zero annual export quota ). However, the Asian pangolins often end up on the illegal black market, the main buyers today are China and Vietnam . The hunt is increasingly shifting to the stocks in the southern distribution area. In the first decade of the 21st century, more than 6,000 living individuals were confiscated in Malaysia alone ; in 2008, authorities in Vietnam confiscated 24 t of frozen pangolin and a further 14 t in Sumatra . In addition to this immense hunting pressure, the increasing loss of habitat due to the expansion of human settlements and usable areas also play a major role in the threat to the individual populations, whereby the Asian pangolins are able to adapt to a certain extent to areas influenced by humans, provided that there is sufficient food is available. Because of these factors, the IUCN currently lists the Chinese pangolin ( Manis pentadactyla ) and the Malay pangolin ( Manis javanica ) in the critically endangered category as well as the Indian pangolin ( Manis crassicaudata ) and the Palawan pangolin ( Manis culionensis ) in the “endangered” category .
Individual evidence
- ^ Alfred Feiler: The Philippine pangolin, Manis culionensisElera, 1915, an almost forgotten species (Mammalia: Pholidota: Manidae). Zoological treatises Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde Dresden 50 (12), 1998, pp. 161–164
- ^ A b Eugène Dubois: Manis Palaejavanica. the Giant Pangolin of the Kendeng Fauna. Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen Amsterdam 29, 1926, pp. 1233-1243
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Phillipe Gaubert: Order Pholidota. In: Don E. Wilson and Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 2: Hooved Mammals. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2011, ISBN 978-84-96553-77-4 , pp. 82-103
- ↑ Martha E. Heath: Family Manidae. Pangolins. In: Jonathan Kingdom, David Happold, Michael Hoffmann, Thomas Butynski, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina (eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume V. Carnivores pangolins, equids and rhinoceroses. Bloomsbury, London, 2013, p. 387
- ↑ Nausheen Irshad, Tariq Mahmood and Muhammad Sajid Nadeem: Morpho-anatomical characteristics of Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) from Potohar Plateau, Pakistan. Mammalia 80 (1), 2016, pp. 103-110
- ↑ a b Ralf-Dietrich Kahlke, Nuria García, Dimitris S. Kostopoulos, Frédéric Lacombat, Adrian M. Lister, Paul PA Mazza, Nikolai Spassovh, and Vadim V. Titov: Western Palaearctic palaeoenvironmental conditions during the Early and early Middle Pleistocene inferred from large mammal communities, and implications for hominin dispersal in Europe. Quaternary Science Reviews 30 (11-12), 2011, pp. 1368-1395
- ↑ a b c d Philippe Gaubert, Agostinho Antunes, Hao Meng, Lin Miao, Stéphane Peigné, Fabienne Justy, Flobert Njiokou, Sylvain Dufour, Emmanuel Danquah, Jayanthi Alahakoon, Erik Verheyen, William T. Stanley, Stephen J. O'Brien, Warren E. Johnson and Shu-Jin Luo: The Complete Phylogeny of Pangolins: Scaling Up Resources for the Molecular Tracing of the Most Trafficked Mammals on Earth. Journal of Heredity 109, 2018, pp. 347-359, doi: 10.1093 / jhered / esx097
- ↑ William J. Murphy, Eduardo Eizirik, Stephen J. O'Brien, Ole Madsen, Mark Scally, Christophe J. Douady, Emma Teeling, Oliver A. Ryder, Michael J. Stanhope, Wilfried W. de Jong and Mark S. Springer : Resolution of the Early Placental Mammal Radiation Using Bayesian Phylogenetics. Science 294, 2001, pp. 2348-2351
- ↑ a b c d Timothy J. Gaudin, Robert J. Emry and John R. Wible: The Phylogeny of Living and Extinct Pangolins (Mammalia, Pholidota) and Associated Taxa: A Morphology Based Analysis. Journal of Mammalian Evolution 16, 2009, pp. 235-305
- ^ George Gaylord Simpson: The Principles of Classification and a Classification of Mammals. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 85, 1945, pp. 1–350 (pp. 75 and 194–195)
- ^ Zelda Du Toit, J. Paul Grobler, Antoinette Kotzé, Raymond Jansen, Helene Brettschneider, and Desiré L. Dalton: The complete mitochondrial genome of Temminck's ground pangolin (Smutsia temminckii; Smuts, 1832) and phylogenetic position of the Pholidota (Weber, 1904 ). Gene 551, 2014, pp. 49-54
- ↑ John Edward Gray: On the natural arrangement of vertebrose animals. London Medical Repository 15, 1821, pp. 297-310 (p. 305) ( [1] )
- ↑ Martha E. Heath: Manis pentadactyla. Mammalian Species 414, 1992, pp. 1-6
- ^ Dirk Albert Hooijer: Some Paleontological Results from Excavations at Niah Caves, Sarawak. Borneo Research Bulletin 8 (2), 1976, pp. 73-77
- ↑ Chris R. Shepherd: Overview of Pangolin Trade in Southeast Asia. In: S. Pantel and CS Yun (Eds.): Proceedings of the Workshop on Trade and Conservation of Pangolins Native to South and Southeast Asia, 30 June - 2 July 2008, Singapore Zoo, Singapore. TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, 2008, pp. 6-9
- ^ IUCN: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.3. ( [2] ), last accessed on December 6, 2014
Web links
- CITES: Appendices I, II and III, valid from 12 June 2013 (Pangolins (Pholidota) at CITES)