Morphological variation of mountain blackeye (Chlorocharis emiliae) populations in Malaysian Borneo

The mountain blackeye (Chlorocharis emiliae) is one of the few Bornean endemic birds which presents an excellent model species to illustrate evolution and speciation. Here, we use discriminant function analysis to elucidate the morphological variation on 40 specimens of mountain blackeye from four populations namely Mount Kinabalu, Mount Trus Madi, Mount Murud and Mount Mulu. The test successfully distinguished all four populations accordingly by respective nominated subspecies. Tarsus length and bill length were identified as the best predictors from nine character loadings observed which also included bill depth, bill width, head bill, wing length, wing span, tail length and total length. Along with this, the morphological patterns also revealed that solid skeletal characters such as bill length, bill depth, bill width and tarsus are genuine predictors of morphological variation and body size within species as compared to feather-based characters. The evolution of such morphological traits is more pronounced due to different ecological adaptation of the mountain blackeye populations. Several factors such as phenotypic plasticity, foraging behaviours and food availability may have influenced the morphological variation between the subspecies

Diversity of rodents and treeshrews in different habitats in western Sarawak, Borneo.

A diverse community of 63 rodent species and nine treeshrew species are found in Borneo (Phillipps & Phillipps, 2016). They play an important role in providing ecosystem services by contributing to pollination, seed dispersal, and germination; and also food for larger carnivores (Shanahan & Compton, 2000; Morand et al., 2006; Payne & Francis, 2007; Phillipps & Phillipps, 2016). Bornean tropical forests have been lost, degraded, and fragmented by anthropogenic activities since the early 1970s (Bryan et al., 2013; Gaveau et al., 2014), consequently created new or alternative habitats for rodents and treeshrews especially resilient, adaptive, or opportunistic species that can thrive in such disturbed areas while forest-dependent species would decline in number or become locally extinct (Traweger et al., 2006; Palmeirim et al., 2020). This study was conducted to determine the species richness and abundance of rodents and treeshrews in four different habitats (i.e. forest, oil palm plantation, rural villages, and urban area) in the western part of Sarawak, Borneo. The data collected from this study is important and useful in contributing new knowledge on the occupancy of anthropogenically created habitats for rodents and treeshrews and gives an insight into how each rodent and treeshrew species responded to human disturbance in term of their species richness and abundance in each habitat type

Co-infections of ectoparasite species in synanthropic rodents of western Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo

Little is known regarding infestation of ectoparasites in synanthropic rodents in Sarawak, Malaysia. A total of 44 rodents from three species (Rattus rattus, Rattus tiomanicus and Sundamys muelleri) were trapped from four residential areas in western Sarawak, Malaysia, for ectoparasites screening. A total of 117 ectoparasites from three hard tick species (Ixodes granulatus, Haemaphysalis sp. 1, Haemaphysalis sp. 2), three mesostigmatid mite species (Laelaps echidninus, Laelaps sedlaceki, and Laelaps nuttalli), one trombiculid mite (chigger species), and one louse species (Hoplopleura sp.), were recovered from 32 infected rodents (72.73% infestation). Infestations by multiple ectoparasite species on the same rodent individuals were recorded in R. rattus and R. tiomanicus (28.1%, n=9) in this study, while Sundamys muelleri was only infested with L. echidninus. One R. rattus individual was co-infected with ticks, louse, and mesostigmatid mite. L. echidninus was the generalist ectoparasite species that infected all three rodent species in three of the residential areas studied. Ectoparasite species diversity was significantly different among four residential areas based on Shannon index and diversity t-test (p-value <0.05). This study provides the first record of the association of synanthropic rodents with multiple ectoparasite infections in residential areas of western Sarawak, Malaysia

Distribution of hornbills in western Sarawak and the way forward for their conservation in Sarawak

There are eight species of hornbills in Borneo. However, little is known on their distribution and ecology in western Sarawak. Their large size requires habitats that consist of large forest patch with large fruiting trees for feeding and nesting. They have an important ecological niche as seed dispersers describes the distribution of hornbills in Totally Protected Areas (TPA) within western Sarawak based on data collected by Sarawak Forestry Corporation from 2013 2016. We discuss the hornbill species distribution and the species area relationship within western Sarawak. The Rhinoceros Hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) recorded the highest occupancy value (psi) and probability of detection (p), followed by the Black Hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus) and the Bushy-crested Hornbills (Anorrhinus galeritus). The Helmeted Hornbills (Rhinoplax vigil) appears to occur in fewer TPA within western Sarawak. A long-term conservation plan is required to ensure the sustainability of the hornbill population through extending protected areas and connecting forest patches. In light of this, the research and conservation needs for these species in Sarawak are highlighted to ensure their long-term survival in the wild

Body water space and turnover rate in female Katjang X Jamnapari goats.

In order to obtain some based-line data on body water space and turnover rate in goats in Malaysia, tritiated water dilution technique was used to measure these two parameters in five pregnant and five non-pregnant does ( > 1 year) as well as in five young (+ 5.4 month-old) female goats. The young goats has a significantly (P <0.05) hinger body water space (898 ml.kg live weight) than either the pregnant (827 ml/kg liveweight) or non-pregnant (848 mi/kg live weight) does, respectively. Body water space (Y, litre) was strongly and positivelt related to live weight (X,kg) : Y = 0.629 + 0.805 X, r = 0.997 ; P < 0.001. The mean turnover rate and half-lives of body water did not differ significantly between the groups; the mean values for all animals were 124.5 m1/kg/d and 4.9 days for water furnover rate and half-lives, respectively. These values were discussed in relation to their future use in the measurement of feed and mineral supplement intake by grazing goats

Goat meat production in Malaysia

Meeting: Goat Meat Production in Asia, 13-18 Mar. 1988, Tando Jam, PKIn IDL-198