Paleontology to policy: the Quaternary history of Southeast Asian tapirs (Tapiridae) in relation to large mammal species turnover, with a proposal for conservation of Malayan tapir by reintroduction to Borneo

The Southeast Asian zoogeographical region is divided into Indochinese, Sundaic and Philippine subregions. Two clades of tapirs, Tapirus spp., have been recognized in Quaternary Southeast Asia. A review of sites at which they occurred shows that representatives of both clades, one of which was the ancestral Malayan tapir Tapirus indicus, co-existed with a diversity of other Pleistocene mammal megafauna. The process of replacement of archaic large mammals was progressive and prolonged through the Quaternary. Zooarcheological investigation has extended knowledge of the former occurrence and distribution of tapirs and other large mammals of the region, with discoveries beyond the outer limits of their previously known ranges. These large mammals were subjected to paleoenvironmental changes as a consequence of the Quaternary cycles of glacial and interglacial periods. Archeological evidence suggests that hunting pressure has intensified the effects of altered environments, leading ultimately to the local disappearance of the Malayan tapir in most of Southeast Asia, including Borneo. The survival of the Malayan tapir through the Quaternary until the present shows that the species is both resilient to environmental change and flexible in its ecological re'uirements and, given proper protection, could continue to inhabit tropical Southeast Asia. To assist the species conservation, reintroduction is proposed from the remaining range of Malayan tapir in the wild, to suitable sites of past occurrence in Borneo, where these ancient survivors of the Quaternary megafauna can be accommodated and safeguarded alongside other forms of land usage

TIKUS PURBAKALA: A Guide for Zooarchaeologists on the Identifications of Rats from Borneo Caves Excavations by Dental Characters

The existing mammal fauna of Borneo includes 26 named species of the rodent family Muridae, subfamily Murinae (Emmons 1993; Payne & Francis, 2005; Maryanto & Sinaga, 2008; Achmadi et al., 2012). Of these, 19 middle-sized to large species belong to genera formerly grouped within the single genus Rattus by regional systematists including Chasen (1940), and Ellerman & Morrison-Scott (1951). Now divided among six genera, Lenothrix, Leopoldamys, Sundamys, Maxomys, Rattus and Niviventer (Wilson & Reeder, 2005), these species (Table 1) are collectively regarded as ‘rats’ for present purposes: tikus in Bahasa Malaysia

Borneo records of Malay Tapir, Tapirus indicus Desmarest: A zooarchaeological and historical review

The Malay tapir, Tapirus indicus Desmarest 1819, currently has a patchy distribution that covers parts of Myanmar, southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia and the island of Sumatra. The palaeontological record extends its past range to include China and the Greater Sunda islands of Java and Borneo. A compilation of specimens from cave excavations in the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah, including finds reported here for the first time, shows that Malay tapirs occurred in northern Borneo from the late Upper Pleistocene, ca. 45,000 years ago, through Holocene to near recent dates. The palaeo-population of Borneo tended to be slightly smaller than extant Tapirus indicus of Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra, but taxonomically inseparable. While undoubtedly present in the archaeological record through the activities of human cave visitors, it is likely that tapirs were not the targeted quarry of hunting practices directed mainly at bearded pigs. Their representation among overall finds of medium and large mammal remains in the Sunda region shows that tapirs were rare in all environments from Middle Pleistocene to Holocene. Their present ecology indicates that climate change of the post-Pleistocene, with restoration of the humid tropical rainforest environment, would have reduced the extent of available habitat favourable to the species. Although no authenticated museum specimens have been obtained in Borneo, these archaeological results give plausibility to anecdotal reports of the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is possible that the final disappearance of the tapir from the island was a recent phenomenon

Post-Pleistocene evolution of Bornean shrews Crocidura foetida (Mammalia, Soricidae)

Fossil mandibles of the Bornean shrew Crocidura foetida recovered from excavations at the west mouth of Niah cave, Sarawak, Malaysia, show that the late Pleistocene population at this lowland location was comparable in size with the large subspecies Crocidura foetida doriae, presently occurring at inland, upland locations. Two Holocene specimens fall in the size range of the smaller lowland subspecies C. f. foetida. Comparable post-Pleistocene size-reduction is known among other mammals of Borneo, but this is the first instance of dated examples. The evolutionary trend conforms with Bergmann's 'rule' but, other than climate change, no selective agent is apparent