EDITORIAL : The IUCN Red List and its role in data-driven conservation
Philip Bowles Deputy Editor: Taprobanica, the journal of Asian Biodiversity
“When in America hundreds of thousands of acres of primeval forest are annually destroyed the conditions of life of a numerous fauna and flora must be thereby suddenly changed, leaving no choice but extermination” – Weissmann 1882
Submitted date: 29 July 2020 Accepted date: 30 August 2020 Published date: 03 September 2020 Pp. 121–132, pls. 43–45.
A REASSESSMENT OF THE SYSTEMATIC POSITION OF THE ASIAN RANID FROG Hylorana nicobariensis STOLICZKA, 1870 (AMPHIBIA : ANURA) WITH THE DESCRIPTION OF A NEW GENUS
Abstract We reassessed the systematic position of the ranid frog Hylorana (=Hylarana) nicobariensis that, owing to its uncertain phylogenetic position and lack of clear morphological characterisation, has lately been allocated to various Asian and African frog genera such as Rana, Sylvirana, Hylarana, Amnirana, and most recently to Indosylvirana. Based on an integrative approach of both phylogenetic and morphological affinities, we describe a new genus to accommodate Hylorana (=Hylarana) nicobariensis and redescribe the species based on new topotypic material from the Nicobar Islands.
Key words :Amnirana, Indosylvirana, phylogeny, Southeast Asia, Sundaland, taxonomy
361_An overview of human-snake conflict from 2015 to 2023 in Indonesia Zakky et al. | 88-98pp
362_A new species of amphidromous goby (Teleostei: Oxudercidae: Stiphodon) from Enggano Island, Indonesia Nurjirana et al. | 99-106pp
363_A new day gecko of the Cnemaspis podihuna (Reptilia: Gekkonidae) clade from Northeast India Sayyed et al. | 107-120pp
364_Impacts of bimaturism and fruit availability on the behaviour of male Sumatran orangutans, Pongo abelii Lesson, 1827 (Primates: Hominidae) Rahmaeti et al. | 121-131pp
365_Influence of land surface temperature and vegetation cover on bird communities in the urban landscape of Yogyakarta Naufalianto et al. | 132-149pp
366_Macroalgae as blue carbon vegetation: Seasonal trends in biomass and carbon storage on Java's south coast Agustiana et al. | 150-157pp
367_A new species of the genus Smithophis Giri, Gower, Das et al., 2019 (Reptilia: Serpentes: Natricidae) from Mizoram, northeast India Muansanga et al. | 158-165pp
368_Ecological risk analysis of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in Bima Bay, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia Jalaludin et al. | 166-173pp
369_A geospatial approach to the distribution, density, and hotspots of freshwater crabs (Decapoda: Gecarcinucidae) in Sri Lanka Gabadage et al. | 174-179pp
370_Species richness, endemism and biogeography of freshwater diatoms (Ochrophyta: bacillariophyceae) from Indonesia: a review Swastiki et al. | 180-187pp
Lee E. Harding* *Section Editor: Taprobanica, the journal of Asian Biodiversity
After decades of endangered species protection and conservation success, poachers are staging a come–back. Most people in Europe and North America just don’t believe that rhinoceros horn, monkey meat, tiger penis or bear bile have any curative or health properties, but millions of people in East Asia and Southeast Asia believe otherwise. This cultural predilection is driving extinction. As repugnant as it is to those living outside the range of non–human primates, monkey meat provides a much–needed source of protein in some circumstances—but not enough to justify their extinction. There is no such nutritional excuse for poaching tigers, bears or rhinoceros. Since the start of 2008, at least 1800 white rhinoceroses and a few of the rarer black rhinoceroses have been killed in South Africa for their horns, most smuggled into Vietnam and China.
Submitted date: 30 October 2009 Accepted date: 22 November 2009 Published date: 22 November 2009 Pp. 83–106, pls. 1–4.
THE ORIGINAL DESCRIPTIONS AND FIGURES OF SRI LANKAN GEKKONID LIZARDS (SQUAMATA : GEKKONIDAE OF THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURIES
A.A. Thasun Amarasinghe*, Aaron M. Bauer, Ivan Ineich, John Rudge, Mohomed M. Bahir & Dinesh E. Gabadage *Corresponding author. E-mail: thasun.taprobanica@gmail.com
Abstract Forty-two species/subspecies belonging to eight genera of geckos, family geckonidae, are recognized from Sri Lanka. Twenty of these were described in the period from Linnaeu’s 10th edition of Systema Nature 1758 to 1953. We provide the original text of the descriptions, images of the type specimens, and translations to English of eight descriptions that were written in Dutch, French, German, and Latin.
Key words : English translation, taxonomy, type specimen, Sri Lanka