Palawan pangolin

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Palawan pangolin
Palawan pangolin (Manis culionensis)

Palawan pangolin ( Manis culionensis )

Systematics
Superordinate : Laurasiatheria
Order : Pholidota
Family : Pangolins (Manidae)
Subfamily : Maninae
Genre : Manis
Type : Palawan pangolin
Scientific name
Manis culionensis
( de Elera , 1915)

The Palawan pangolin ( Manis culionensis sometimes), Philippine pangolin called, is a mammal of the family of pangolins (Manidae). She is on the Philippine island of Palawan and some north islands endemic spread. There she lives in forests and partly open landscapes and lives actively at night. Little information is available about the exact way of life of the pangolin species. Since its first description , which took place in 1915, it has been partially identical to the closely related Malay pangolin , but studies from 2005 confirmed the independence of the Palawan pangolin. Intensive hunting has resulted in the species being endangered.

features

Habitus

The Palawan pangolin is a medium-sized representative of the pangolins, which reaches a head-trunk length of 45 to 54 cm and a tail length of 38 to 50 cm. The length of the tail corresponds to about 90% of the length of the rest of the body. The weight is 2.5 to 8.0 kg. There are no known differences between the sexes. The body of the Palawan pangolin is similar to its close relative, the Malay pangolin ( Manis javanica ), but the former has a relatively longer tail. Typical is the scale armor, which covers the top of the head, the torso, the outsides of the limbs and the tail. The scales are much smaller than those of the Malay pangolin and are grouped in 19 to 21 rows on the back. In addition, they are not so dark, but have a pale to creamy, orange-yellowish hue. Also in contrast to the Malay pangolin, there are no strong longitudinal keels on the surface of the scales on the lower body and tail side. The scales have a V-shape with a length similar to the width. They become significantly larger towards the rear of the trunk. On the tail, there is only a middle scale line on the back. On the other hand, a scale is missing on the underside of the tip of the tail, so that a small area of ​​skin is visible here. Individual hairs sprout between the scales and continue to cover the unscaled body in a dense layer. The hair is colored whitish and relatively long. The skin has a brownish tone, to which the nose is contrasted by a darker color. The eyes are small with also dark irises , the ears are only indicated by a small, thickened cartilage ridge. The front legs are slightly shorter than the rear legs. The limbs end in front and back in five rays with short, curved claws. The middle claw is the largest, but on the forefoot it exceeds the others by less than twice.

Skull and skeletal features

The skull is 6.5 to 9.0 cm long and is conical in shape with a relatively long and thick rostrum . The zygomatic arch as not fully formed in all animals shed, the front, at the zygomatic -faceted bone extension has different from Malayan animal shed only an extremely small length. The nasal bones are also shorter than the Malay pangolin and take up less than a third of the total length of the skull. The long tail consists of 29 to 30 vertebrae.

distribution

Distribution area

The Palawan pangolin lives endemically on the island of Palawan, which belongs to the Philippines, and the Calamian islands offshore to the north, such as Busuanga , Culion or Calauit , and it was introduced on the island of Apulit . In Palawan, research suggests that it may be found more frequently in the northern part of the island than in the southern part. From the Calamian Islands, the Palawan pangolin was detected in at least 25 locations. The habitat includes lower-lying primary tropical rainforests , the highest evidence so far comes from 2015 meters above sea level. The pangolin species can also occur in areas influenced by humans such as secondary forests, mosaic landscapes or grasslands, but the latter must have enough trees. It shows some preferences for figs , in which, in addition to suitable tree hollows, there are also ant colonies that are attracted to the fruits of the trees.

Way of life

Little information is available about the way of life of the Palawan pangolin. Like all pangolin species, it is probably a rather nocturnal loner and lives partly in trees (semi- arboricol ). When climbing in the trees, the tail is usually placed around the trunk or branch, which serves as a backup. On the ground, the Palawan pangolin moves forward on its ankles with the claws of its front feet folded down. In case of danger it emits a hissing sound and curls up into a ball. It uses its well-developed sense of smell for orientation and for foraging. The food mainly consists of ants and termites , and observations have shown that the Palawan pangolin prefers nests of arboreal colonies. The nests are torn open with the claws of the front feet and the prey is licked out with the tongue. Examined nests usually show a single round hole. Large nests, however, are often destroyed on the ground. Nothing is known about reproduction. Mother and young animals were observed together in August.

Systematics

Internal systematics of the Manidae according to Gaubert et al. 2018
  Manidae  
  Manis  


 Manis crassicaudata


   

 Manis culionensis


   

 Manis javanica




   

 Manis pentadactyla



   
  Smutsia  

 Smutsia gigantea


   

 Smutsia temminckii



  Phataginus  

 Phataginus tetradactyla


   

 Phataginus tricuspis





Template: Klade / Maintenance / Style

The Palawan pangolin is a kind from the genus Manis belong to which three other existing today species, the Asian representative of the family of pangolins represent (Manidae). The pangolins in turn form the only member of the order of the Pholidota, which are thus to be regarded as monotypical . They can be classified as part of the extensive relationship of the carnivores (Carnivora), which, however, was only determined and confirmed by molecular genetic studies. Within the pangolins, the Asian representatives in turn belong to the subfamily Maninae . This contrasts with the African pangolins, which are referred to the subfamilies of the Smutsiinae and the Phatagininae .

The genus Manis is often divided into the subgenus Manis and Paramanis . The latter also includes the Palawan pangolin. Its closest relative is the Malay pangolin ( Manis javanica ), the only other representative in the subgenus Paramanis . Today it inhabits several of the larger islands of the Malay Archipelago and parts of the mainland area of Southeast Asia . According to genetic analyzes, the separation of the two species occurred during the Pleistocene . Subspecies of the Palawan pangolin are not distinguished.

The Palawan pangolin presumably arose through speciation as a result of geographical isolation from a common line with the Malay pangolin. Palawan is separated from Borneo in the southwest by a narrow strait up to 145 m deep, the Balabac Strait . During the Old Pleistocene , more than 800,000 years ago, Palawan and the Calamian Islands were connected to Borneo via the Greater Palawan Shelf due to the low sea level caused by the ice bound water in the northern hemisphere during a cold phase of the Ice Age . They therefore formed the northeastern part of the Sundaland , which occupied a larger part of today's Malay Archipelago. As a result, the ancestors of the Palawan pangolin reached their current refuges, where they found living conditions comparable to those of the tropical rainforests. With the melting of the ice and the rise of sea levels, the Greater Palawan Shelf separated from the Sundaland around 800,000 to 500,000 years ago, in the early Middle Pleistocene . Studies have shown that no land connection was established in the subsequent cold phases. The lack of gene flow to the other populations of pangolins in the Sundaland thus led to the training of the Palawan pangolin. The process is not yet fully understood. The pangolins are a relatively conservative group of animals that have undergone few evolutionary changes during their tribal history . Other island populations of pangolins, such as the Indian pangolin ( Manis crassicaudata ) and the Chinese pangolin ( Manis pentadactyla ), did not develop a similar speciation. Fossil finds of the Palawan pangolin are not known. Subfossil remains come from 5,000 to 10,000 year old archaeological sites in Palawan, such as Pasimbahan-Magsanib in the north of the island.

The first scientific description of the species was made in 1915 by Casto de Elera under the name Pholidotus culionensis . He used while an individual from the island of Culion , which with culionensis also the epithet derived. In some cases until the 1950s the Palawan pangolin was still listed as an independent species, later it was considered identical to the Malay pangolin . In 1998 Alfred Feiler questioned this using a specimen from the Museum für Tierkunde in Dresden. In further investigations by Philippe Gaubert and Agostinho Antunes from 2005, differences in the structure of the skull and the horn scales were found. These again led to the classification as an independent species.

Threat and protection

The Palawan pangolin is hunted intensively, mainly because of the meat, which is mainly used for food supply, but is also traded as bushmeat . Furthermore, the skin and the scales are also in great demand. The skin is mainly used for asthma symptoms , some of the dandruff is also sold on the international market, where it is particularly used in traditional Chinese medicine . Another threat factor is the destruction of habitat due to deforestation. The IUCN lists due to which the Palawan pangolin as "high risk" ( endangered ) and expects a significant decline in populations, according to local hunters. The pangolin is protected by the Washington Convention on the Protection of Species (CITES), Appendix II, and is also subject to the CITES zero annual export quota , which means that any international trade in pangolins or their body parts is prohibited. It is also protected by local legislation, which is only rarely enforced locally. The Palawan pangolin is present in several nature reserves in Palawan.

literature

  • 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 (p. 99)
  • Philippe Gaubert and Agostinho Antunes: Assessing the taxonomic status of the Palawan pangolin Manis culionensis (pholidota) using discrete morphological characters. Journal of Mammalogy 86, 6 (2005), pp. 1068-1074 abstract

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g 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 (p. 99)
  2. ^ A b Alfred Feiler: The Philippine pangolin, Manis culionensis Elera, 1915, an almost forgotten species (Mammalia: Pholidota: Manidae). Zoological treatises Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde Dresden 50 (12), 1998, pp. 161–164
  3. ^ A b c Philippe Gaubert and Agostinho Antunes: Assessing the taxonomic status of the Palawan pangolin Manis culionensis (pholidota) using discrete morphological characters. Journal of Mammalogy 86 (6), 2005, pp. 1068-1074 abstract
  4. ↑ a b Sabine Schoppe and Rommel Cruz: The Palawan Pangolin Manis culionensis. 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. 176-188
  5. ↑ a b c L. Lagrada, Sabine Schoppe and Daniel Challender: Manis culionensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2. ( [1] ), last accessed on November 6, 2014
  6. ^ A b Jacob A. Esselstyn, Peter Widmann and Lawrence R. Heaney: The mammals of Palawan Island, Philippines. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 117, 2004, pp. 271-302
  7. ↑ a b c 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
  8. ↑ 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
  9. ^ A b 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
  10. ↑ Janine Ochoa, Victor Paz, Helen Lewis, Jane Carlos, Emil Robles, Noel Amano, Maria Rebecca Ferreras, Myra Lara, Benjamin Vallejo, Jr., Gretchen Velarde, Sarah Agatha Villaluz, Wilfredo Ronquillo and Wilhelm Solheim II: The archaeology and palaeobiological record of Pasimbahan-Magsanib Site, northern Palawan, Philippines. Philippine Science Letters 7 (1), 2014, pp. 22-36
  11. ^ Colin Campbell Sanborn: Philippine Zoological Expedition 1946-1947. Mammals. Fieldiana Zoology 33 (2), 1952, pp. 87-158
  12. ↑ Don E. Wilson, DeeAnn M. Reeder (Ed.): Mammal Species of the World . 3rd edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 ( [2] )

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