o_19ko2dt161ng2j4e1tgnoqv1s45a.pdf

INDRANEIL DAS & NORSHAM YAAKOB (2007)
i) parts of south-east Asia were not glaciated and were refuges during the height of the
Pleistocene glaciation (see Heaney 1991, for a review);
ii) the region has a complex history of sea-level fluctuations that attached and detached
islands to the Asian mainland, joining and severing populations in the process;
iii) the region shows a high diversity of geology and climate, and therefore, supports diverse
ecological conditions; and
iv) the area still is clothed in relatively large unbroken tracts of primary forests, such as
tropical rainforests and montane forests.
This paper presents a history and inventory of the herpetofauna of Malaysia, conducts an
analysis of trends in research and provides some suggestions for the future.
THE ROLE OF HERPETOFAUNA
Amphibians and reptiles often constitute significant biomass, exceeding that of all other
vertebrates (Burton & Likens 1975; Iverson 1982), form important linkages in the ecosystem
by providing dispersal mechanisms for plants (Moll 1980; Vogt & Guzman 1988; Varela &
Bucher 2002; Liu et al. 2004; Rick & Bowman 1961; Moll & Jansen 1995; Fialho 1990;
Iverson 1985), form an important link in the trophic structure through predation, sometimes
of much larger animals (Singh 2000), scavenging (Furbank 1996); Spencer et al. 1998; Esque
& Peters 1994), and form a potential prey-base themselves (Ernst et al. 1994; Souza & Abe
2000; Martuscelli 1995; Rhodin et al. 1993), contribute to environmental heterogeneity (Kaczor
& Harnett 1990), have keystone functions in maintaining ecosystem structure (Thorbjarnarson
1992; Ross 1998) and foster important symbiotic associations with an array of organisms
(Lago 1991; Witz et al. 1991). Several species of turtles regularly eat water hyacinths,
Eichhornia, presumably helping to control this water weed (Davenport et al. 1992; Varghese
& Tonapi 1986; Fachin-Terán et al. 1995). Population data on herpetofaunal species have
been used for constructive predictive models of abundance of target taxa (Clawson et al.
1984).
Amphibians and reptiles are known to be important predators of insect (Bhanotar & Bhatnagar
1976; Gans 1994) and rodent (Lim 1974; Whitaker & Advani 1983) pests in agricultural
ecosystems, and support a thriving trade based on export of froglegs (Niekisch 1986). Snake
venom is used in medical research, for the production of life-saving drugs (Lim et al. 1977a;
1977b; Reid 1968; Stocker 1990) and over 500 alkaloids of 22 different structural classes
have been found in skin extracts of amphibians (Daly et al. 2002), many with potential
pharmaceutical value. Amphibians and reptiles are used in biomedical research, such as in
transplant immunology, the culture of cells and tissues for studies of cell growth and association
(Wake et al. 1975). In Malaysia, several species have high commercial value. Larger frogs,
including Limnonectes blythi, Fejervarya cancrivora and F. limnocharis, are eaten including
some large lizards, particularly Varanus salvator and V. nebulosus (see Khan 1969) and many
turtle and tortoise species (Kiew 1984f; Lim & Das 1999). Several species of snakes, such as
Python reticulatus, Naja sumatrana, Ophiophagus hannah and Acrochordus javanicus are
prized for their meat and medicine (Lim 1961) as are crocodilians (Tweedie & Harrison 1970;
Anonymous 1983). Finally, amphibians and reptiles, on account of their typically small body
size, high species diversity and widespread distribution, poikilothermy and lack of parental
care have been considered model organisms for the study of vertebrate life (Pianka 1986).
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