Waterhen ( Ruak-ruak ) in Malaysia

White-breasted waterhen ( Ruak-ruak ) ( Amaurornis phoenicurus ) is the only species of the genus Amaurornis found in Malaysia.
 
Local names of this bird are often formed by onomatopoeia (based on the sound it makes), thus “ruak-ruak” in Malay.
 

Amaurornis  contains 5 species:
● Isabelline bush-hen (Amaurornis isabellina) - Sulawesi
● Plain bush-hen or Philippine bush-hen (Amaurornis olivacea) – Philippines
● Pale-vented bush-hen (Amaurornis moluccana) – Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Solomon
● Talaud bush-hen (Amaurornis magnirostris) – Talaud Islands
● White-breasted waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) – South Asia, SE Asia
 
 
Several subspecies are named for the populations that are widely distributed :
● A. p. phoenicurus ( chinensis ) – South Asia, SE Asia
● A. p. maldivus – Maldives
● A. p. insularis – Adaman, Nicobar
● A. p. leucocephalus – Nicobar
● A. p. midnicobaricus – Nicobar
● A. p leucomelana – Sulawesi
● A. p. variabilis – Sualwesi
 

 

Streptopelia ( Tekukur ) in Malaysia

Columbidae is a bird family consisting of pigeons and doves. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks, and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily feed on seeds, fruits, and plants. The family occurs worldwide, but the greatest variety is in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms.

The family contains 344 species divided into 50 genera. 13 of the species are extinct.

 In English, the smaller species tend to be called "doves" and the larger ones "pigeons".   The distinction is not consistent, however, and does not exist in most other languages.

Streptopelia is a genus of birds in the pigeon and dove family Columbidae.  The genera Spilopelia and Nesoenas were formerly placed in Streptopelia, but have since been separated out.

Streptopelia contains 13 species.  S. tranquebarica and S.bitorquata are found in Malaysia.

Spilopelia contains 2 species.  Only S. chinensis is found in Malaysia.

Neosoenas contains 3 species, of whih one is now extinct.  None is found in Malaysia.

Pigeon ( Merpati ) in Malaysia

  

Columbidae is a bird family consisting of pigeons and doves. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks, and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily feed on seeds, fruits, and plants. The family occurs worldwide, but the greatest variety is in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms.

The family contains 344 sapecies divided into 50 genera. 13 of the species are extinct. 

In English, the smaller species tend to be called "doves" and the larger ones "pigeons".   The distinction is not consistent, however, and does not exist in most other languages.

 

 

There are 35 species recognised in the genus of which 2 are extinct.  2 species are found in Malaysia : Columba livia domestica and Columba argentina. 

Wild rock doves ( Columba livia ) are pale grey with two black bars on each wing, whereas domestic and feral pigeons ( Columba livia domestica ) vary in colour and pattern.

 

Dove ( Merbuk ) of Malaysia

  

Columbidae is a bird family consisting of pigeons and doves. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks, and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily feed on seeds, fruits, and plants. The family occurs worldwide, but the greatest variety is in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms.

The family contains 344 species divided into 50 genera. 13 of the species are extinct.

In English, the smaller species tend to be called "doves" and the larger ones "pigeons".   The distinction is not consistent, however, and does not exist in most other languages.

  

Geopelia is a genus of small, long-tailed doves in the family Columbidae. They are native to South-east Asia and Australasia and are most often found in open country and scrubland. They feed mainly on seeds which they find by foraging on the ground. They typically lay two eggs in a simple nest of twigs and grass. Their plumage is mostly greyish-brown with a pattern of spots or bars. The zebra dove and diamond dove are commonly kept in captivity.

The genus contains five species:

● Diamond dove, Geopelia cuneate ( Australia )

● Zebra dove, Geopelia striata ( S.E.Asia )

● Peaceful dove, Geopelia placida ( Australia, New Guinea )

● Barred dove, Geopelia maugeus ( Lesser Sunda Islands )

● Bar-shouldered dove, Geopelia humeralis ( Australia, New Guinea )

 

Only Zebra dove ( Geopelia striata ) are found in Malaysia.

The zebra dove is popular in captivity and many populations have appeared outside its native range due to birds escaping or being deliberately released. It can now be found in central Thailand, Laos, Borneo, Sulawesi, Hawaii (introduced in 1922), Tahiti (1950), New Caledonia, the Seychelles, the Chagos Archipelago (1960), Mauritius (before 1768), Réunion, and Saint Helena.

Their call is a series of soft, staccato cooing notes. They are popular as pets because of their calls and cooing competitions are held to find the bird with the best voice.

Orangutan

Orangutans are great apes classified in the genus Pongo.  They are the only extant genus of the subfamily Ponginae.   All other genera under Ponginae were extinct : Lufengpithecus, Ankarapithecus, Sivpithecus, Gigantopithecus, Khoratpithecus.

Orangutans were originally considered to be one species. From 1996, they were divided into two species: the Bornean orangutan (P. pygmaeus, with three subspecies) and the Sumatran orangutan (P. abelii). In 2017, a third species, the Tapanuli orangutan (P. tapanuliensis), was identified.

All three orangutan species are considered critically endangered in the IUNCR Red List.

 

 

Etymology

The name "orangutan" is derived from the Malay words orang, meaning "man", and hutan, meaning "forest".   The word was first attested in English in 1691 in the form orang-outang.

The orangutan was first described scientifically in 1758 in the Systema Naturae of Carl Linnaeus as Simia satyrus.   It was renamed Simia pygmaeus in 1760 by Christian Emmanuel Hopp.

The name of the genus, Pongo, comes from a 16th-century account by Andrew Battel, an English sailor held prisoner by the Portuguese in Angola, which describes two anthropoid "monsters" named Pongo and Engeco. He is now believed to have been describing gorillas.   French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède used the term Pongo for the genus in 1799.

  

Phylogeny

In 2011, the Sumatran orangutan, following humans and chimpanzees, became the third species to have its genome sequenced. Subsequently in 2017, the Bornean and Tapanuli species had their genome sequenced. 

Orangutans have 48 diploid chromosomes, in contrast to humans, which have 46.

Orangutans travelled from Sumatra to Borneo as the islands were connected by land bridges as parts of Sundaland during recent glacial periods when sea levels were much lower. The present range of Tapanuli orangutans is thought to be close to where ancestral orangutans first entered what is now Indonesia from mainland Asia.

   

Taxonomy of Pongo

● Pongo hooijeri†

● Pongo weidenreichi†

● Pongo pygmaeus

● Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus – Sabah

● Pongo pygmaeus morio – Sarawak

● Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii – Kalimantan

● Pongo abelii - Sumatra

● Pongo tapanuliensis– Sumatra

 

 

 

 

Primates in Malaysia

Malaysia is inhabited by ≤25 non-human primate species from 5 families.  12 species are found in Malaya, 12 species in Borneo.

 

Family	Species	❶	❷	❸
Lorisidae	Nycticebus bengalensis	TP	P		TP
Tarsiidae	Cephalopachus bancanus	×	P		TP
Cercopithecidae	Macaca nemestrina Macaca arctoides Macaca fascicularis Presbytis femoralis Presbytis siamensis Presbytis chysomelas Presbytis rubicunda Presbytis hosei Presbytis sabana Presbytis frontata Trachypithecus cristatus Trachypithecus selangorensis Trachypithecus obscurus Nasalis larvatus	P TP P P P × × × × × P P P ×	P × P × × P P P P P N × × P		P × P × × TP TP TP × TP P × × TP
Hylobatidae	Hylobates lar Hylobates agilis Hylobates muelleri abbotti Hylobates muelleri funereus Symphalangus syndactylus	TP TP × × TP	× × P P ×		× × TP TP ×
Hominidae	Pongo pygmaeus	×	TP		TP

Note : Species of primates in Malaysia with their status in ❶Malaya ; ❷Sabah ; & ❸ Sarawak under their respective law.

TP = Totally Protected. P = Protected, N = Not Protected. × = non-indigenous.

 

 

Malaysian primates are protected under the :

❶ Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 ( Act 716 ) in Malaya

❷ Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997  in Sabah

❸ Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998 in Sarawak

 

 

Source :

1. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331503611_Primate_research_and_conservation_in_Malaysia

2. https://www.reed.edu/biology/professors/srenn/pages/teaching/web_2008/dklj_site_final/phylogeny.html

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primate

 

 

 

 

Swallows & Martins of Malaysia

The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine birds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica.

 Around 90 species of Hirundinidae are known, divided into 2 subfamilies; and 19 genera, with the greatest diversity found in Africa.

7 species of Hirundinidae are found in Malaysia.

 

Ibises of Malaysia

The ibises are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains.

 There are 28 extant species and 6 extinct species of ibis.

Pelicans ( Undan ) of Malaysia

Pelicans are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterised by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before swallowing.

 The 8 living pelican species were traditionally divided into 2 groups, one containing 4 ground-nesters with mainly white adult plumage (Australian, Dalmatian, great white, and American white pelicans), and one containing 4 grey- or brown-plumaged species which nest preferentially either in trees (pink-backed, spot-billed and brown pelicans), or on sea rocks (Peruvian pelican).

Heron ( Kuntul ) of Malaysia

The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 64 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons.

The herons are a widespread family with a cosmopolitan distribution. They exist on all continents except Antarctica, and are present in most habitats except the coldest extremes of the Arctic, extremely high mountains, and the driest deserts. Almost all species are associated with water; they are essentially non-swimming waterbirds that feed on the margins of lakes, rivers, swamps, ponds, and the sea. They are predominantly found in lowland areas, although some species live in alpine areas, and the majority of species occurs in the tropics.

A group of herons is called  a [seige].