Predicted Pleistocene-Holocene range shifts of the tiger (Panthera tigris)

Aim In this article, we modelled the potential range shifts of tiger (Panthera tigris) populations over the Late Pleistocene and Holocene, to provide new insights into the evolutionary history and interconnectivity between populations of this endangered species. Location Asia. Methods We used an ecological niche approach and applied a maximum entropy (Maxent) framework to model potential distributions of tigers. Bioclimatic conditions for the present day and mid-Holocene, and for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), were used to represent interglacial and glacial conditions of the Late Pleistocene, respectively. Results Our results show that the maximum potential tiger range during modern climates (without human impacts) would be continuous from the Indian subcontinent to north-east Siberia. During the LGM, distributions are predicted to have contracted to southern China, India and Southeast Asia and remained largely contiguous. A potential distribution gap between Peninsular Malaya and Sumatra could have effectively separated tigers on the Sunda Islands from those in continental Asia during interglacials. Main conclusions The continuous modelled distribution of tigers in mainland Asia supports the idea of mainly unimpeded gene flow between all populations throughout the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. Thus, our data support a pragmatic approach to tiger conservation management, especially of mainland populations, as it is likely that only recent anthropogenic changes caused separation of these populations. In contrast, Sunda tigers are likely to have separated and differentiated following the Last Glacial Maximum and thus warrant separate management

A pygmy Stegodon from the middle Pleistocene of Eastern Java

The material to be described below forms part of a collection of fossil vertebrates made by Dr. J. Cosijn North of Djetis and Perning in Eastern Java (Cosijn, 1931, 1932). The Cosijn collection has not yet been fully described, some preliminary identifications were made by the late Prof. Dr. J. H. F. Umbgrove (in Cosijn, 1931, pp. 118-119). The collection is preserved in the Geological Museum at Leiden ; I have previously described the remains of rhinoceros (Hooijer, 1946, pp. 3, 55, 73, and 76) and those of hippopotamus (Hooijer, 1950, pp. 66, 69-72, and 87-108). It is a pleasure again to acknowledge my indebtedness to Prof. Dr. B. G. Escher and to Prof. Dr. I. M. van der Vlerk for permission to study this valuable material. Umbgrove's first conclusion that the vertebrate fauna found by Cosijn is analogous to that of the Trinil bone beds is not shared by Von Koenigswald, who claims the mammalian fauna first discovered by Cosijn, the Djetis fauna, to be older than the Trinil fauna. The latter is Middle Pleistocene, and the Djetis fauna is placed in the Early Pleistocene (Von Koenigswald, 1935, p. 193). I have presented arguments elsewhere (Hooijer, 1952) for regarding the Djetis fauna as similar in age to the Trinil fauna. Both are early postVillafranchian faunas, and both are characterized by the presence of a series of forms (notably Macaca, Hylobates, Pongo, Ursus, Crocuta, and Tapirus) typifying the Southern Chinese Stegodon-Ailuropoda fauna (fully described in Colbert and Hooijer, 1953). The presence of these forms in the Javanese faunas shows that by the time of the formation of the Djetis and the Trinil beds these invading elements from the mainland of Asia had already reached Java (cf. Von Koenigswald, 1940, p. 72; 1950, p. 92). In our opinion th

Quaternary Gibbons from the Malay Archipelago

CONTENTS Introduction................... i Order Primates.................. 3 Family Pongidae................. 3 Genus Symphalangus............... 3 Symphalangus syndactylus syndactylus (Raffles)........ 3 Symphalangus syndactylus continentis Thomas........ 5 Cave material of Symphalangus and Hylobates from Sumatra .... 10 Cave material of Symphalangus from Sumatra........ 18 Symphalangus syndactylus subfossilis nov. subsp......... 34 Pleistocene material of Symphalangus from Java........ 34 Genus Hylobates................. 34 Hylobates agilis Cuvier............... 34 Cave material of Hylobates from Sumatra.......... 37 Pleistocene material of Hylobates from Java......... 39 Cave material of Hylobates from Borneo.......... 39 Pleistocene material of Hylobates from China........ 40 References................... 40 Explanation of the plates............... 42 INTRODUCTION In the years 1888-1890 Eug. Dubois explored a number of limestone caves in the Padang Highlands, central Sumatra, and made a large collection of teeth of a great variety of mammals. The fauna is characterized by the relative abundance of orang-utan (more than 3000 teeth: Hooijer, 1948), and contains no extinct species. The cave teeth differ from their homologue

New records of mammals from the middle pleistocene of Sangiran, central Java

Collections of fossil vertebrate remains from the Sangiran area in Java have recently been presented to the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie by Mr. H. R. van Heekeren and by Mr. J. H. Houbolt. They form a most welcome addition to the Museum collection of fossil vertebrates made by Eugene Dubois in Java in the 189o's; Sangiran is a site known to but not collected at by Dubois. We are grateful to Messrs. Van Heekeren and Houbolt for their generous gift to the Museum; the more important specimens in the Sangiran collection will be the subject of the present note. The Sangiran dome (for the geology of the area see Van Es, 1931: 55-68, and Von Koenigswald, 1940: 26-39), situated approximately 12 km north of Solo (Soerakarta) between the Kali Brangkal and the Kali Tjemoro in Central Java, has been extensively collected at by Dr. G. H. R. von Koenigswald during the 1930's. The cranial and mandibular remains of hominids retrieved from this site between 1936 and 1941 by that indefatigable collector rank among the most important fossil hominid specimensever found in Asia. In the course of his investigations in Java Von Koenigswald established a succession of faunas two of which, the Djetis and the Trinil fauna, are of special interest here as both do occur at Sangiran. The former has been assigned a Lower Pleistocene age, the latter a Middle Pleistocene age by Von Koenigswald; it is even possible that the Sangiran succession extends downward to include an earlier fauna, the Kali Glagah (originally placed in the Upper Pliocene by Von Koenigswald), as a molar fragment of the mastodont described by Van der Maarel (1932) as Tetralophodon bumiajuensis has been recovered, too (Von Koenigswald, 1940: 30). This mastodont, considered characteristic of th

Note on subfossil teeth of Equus zebra L. from Orange free State

Some time ago Dr. L. D. Brongersma, curator of the Leiden Museum, entrusted me for examination some subfossil equine teeth, received from Mr. H. van Hoepen, who had found them between Glen and Mazelspoort, in Orange Free State. The teeth proved to belong all to one and the same individual, and to constitute the entire upper premolar-molar-series of the right side, almost undamaged. The importance of this find is evident, as most of the fossil or subfossil equine species from S. Africa are based on isolated teeth. An inner view of our specimen is given in pl. VI lower figure, the crown surfaces are represented in the upper figure of the same plate. It can be seen, that the P4 is the longest tooth, its height is 72 mm. The mesostyle is prominent, and especially marked off anteriorly. The parastyle is well defined in P3 and P4, less so in the molars, especially in M1. Between these styles the ectoloph is almost straight in the premolars, and slightly concave in the molars. The posterior half of the ectoloph, however, is more concave in the premolars than in the molars, the latter having a less developed metastyle. The enamel pattern is comparatively simple, the pli protoloph 1) and the pli hypostyle are hardly or not developed. A slight trace of a pli prefossette is found in P4 only. A small pli postfossette is seen in the premolars, in the molars it is hardly indicated. The pli protoconule is present in all the teeth, though shorter in the molars than in the premolars. The groove between protocone and hypocone is sharply pointed towards the outer side, a pli caballin is absent. The protocones are remarkable for the very slight development of their anterior lobe; they increase in length from before backward. First I compared the subfossil teeth with those of Equus quagga. O

The valid name of the Banteng: Bibos javanicus (d'Alton)

While studying the collection of recent oxen of the Museum my attention was drawn to the problem of the nomenclature of the Java banteng. I believe to have been able to clear up the confusion that still exists today, as will be set forth in the present note. The wild ox of Java, the banteng, is known variously as Bos sondaicus or Bos banteng, but neither of these is the earliest available valid name. The species should have been called: Bibos javanicus (d'Alton) B[os] Javanicus d'Alton, Skelete der Wiederkäuer, Bonn, 1823, p. (7), pl. VIII fig. c. The earliest reference to the banteng of Java I have been able to find is in Pennant (1800, p. 35): "Mr. Loten told me that wild oxen, of a reddish brown color, with vast horns, and of a great size, are found in Java". Raffles, in his oft quoted "History of Java" refers to the wild Javan ox as "bánteng" (Raffles, 1817, p. 49; 1830, p. 56) or "bánteng" (Raffles, 1817, p. III; 1830, p. 123), but these are vernacularisms, as are "Bentinger" as used by Boie and Macklot (1827, p. 316) and "Bantinger" (Fischer, 1829, p. 500). In February, 1821, two adult banteng skeletons from Java were sent to Leiden by Reinwardt, one male, and the other female. In the handwritten list of specimens of Reinwardt's consignment preserved in the archives of the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie at Leiden these skeletons are marked as of the wild Javan ox or Bantinger, Bos javanicus. The skulls of these specimens were figured for the first time by d'Alton (1823, pl. VIII figs, c and d), who, in the explanation of the plate, indicates the male (his fig. c) as "Schadel des Javanischen zahmen Ochsen (B. Javanicus, Reinwardt)"

Phocanella minor van Beneden, een kleine fossiele zeehond : nieuw voor de zwarte bottenfauna van de Schelde

In 1876 beschreef Van Beneden (1876: 799) resten van een kleine zeehond uit het Scaldisien van het Bekken van Antwerpen als Phocanella minor. Newton (1891: 19/20) meldde een humerus fragment van deze soort afkomstig uit het Nodule Bed van de Red Crag bij Foxhall, 4 mijl Z.W. van Woodbridge in Suffolk. Een fragment van een femur werd door Van Deinse (1927: 1363) gerapporteerd van de Groeve van Wiegerink ten noorden van Zwolle; dit zou tot nu toe de enige fossiele vondst van Phocanella minor uit ons land zijn. Het zwarte botje waarvan hier nu melding wordt gemaakt ontving ik van Dr. P. H. de Buisonjé en is afkomstig van een schelpenzuiger in de Westerschelde. Het is een groot deel van het heiligbeen (sacrum), en de overeenkomst met het sacrum van Phocanella minor zoals dat door Van Beneden (1877, pl. 14 figs. 18-19) is afgebeeld is zo compleet als men zich slechts kan wensen. Het botje is afgerold en dus waarschijnlijk getransporteerd (zie pi. 1). De dorsale bogen van de sacrale wervels zijn verloren gegaan, en zo ook de linkervleugel van de eerste sacrale wervel. Aan beide zijden is het eerste sacrale foramen aan de ventrale kant bewaard gebleven. Enkele maten, voor zover die te nemen zijn (die van het vrijwel onbeschadigde, door Van Beneden afgebeelde sacrum tussen haakjes): lengte van de eerste en tweede sacrale wervel tezamen, 29 mm (31 mm); breedte over de vleugels van de eerste sacrale wervel, iets meer dan 40 mm (47 mm) ; idem over de wanden van de eerste ventrale sacrale foramina, 26 mm (30 mm) ; dorsoventrale doorsnede van het eerste sacrale wervellichaam, 15 mm (17 mm), en die van de vleugel, 24 mm (ca. 28 mm). Achter het tweede ventrale sacrale foramen is het laterale gedeelte afgebroken en is nog slechts ee

Some remarks on the subspecies of Phalanger ursinus (Temminck) and of Lenomys meyeri (Jentink) from Celebes

In connection with a study of an extensive collection of prehistoric mammals from Toalian caves in Southwestern Celebes, a certain number of recent mammal species from Celebes and adjacent islands have been examined. In most cases the recent material for comparison available of a given species was adequate to determine the status of the corresponding cave form. Some of the cave animals (Phalanger celebensis (Gray), Macaca maura (Geoffr. et F. Cuvier), Macrogalidia musschenbroekii (Schlegel), Sus celebensis Müller et Schlegel, and Babyrousa babyrussa (L.)) could be shown to be subspecifically distinct from the living forms (Hooijer, 1950 a). In all of these cases the time that has elapsed since the deposition of the material in the prehistoric caves has been sufficient for a subspecific differentiation to have taken place. In some cases examined, however, the recent material available to me at the time was rather poor, and additional material was greatly needed. Since the preparation of the cave report (Hooijer, 1950 a) more recent specimens have been examined while visiting various natural history museums in the United States. It is a great pleasure to thank the curators of mammals, Dr. George H. H. Tate of the American Museum of Natural History, Dr. David H. Johnson of the United States National Museum, and Dr. Colin C. Sanborn of the Chicago Natural History Museum, for their kind cooperation and permission to study the material in the collections under their charge. The present paper contains observations on Phalanger ursinus (Temminck) and Lenomys meyeri (Jentink), two species which are represented in the cave collection and which I have dealt with before on the basis o