This and That #5
Sunda Clouded LeopardThe Sunda Clouded Leopard is the apex predator of Borneo yet little is known of its ecology reports the Journal of Threatened Taxa (vol. 12 No. 16). A ten year camera trap study revealed 11 individuals. (8 males, one female and two with unknown sex) Males remained in the area from less than one month to 71 months. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6487.12.16.17222-17228
New Book
Marine Geology and Geotechnology of the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait by Ronald C.Chaney has been published for the ridiculous price of 75 pounds in both hard cover and e-book. The book covers the geology of the South China Sea and the smaller seas within and the Taiwan Strait. Wind, storms, tides, currents and water exchange with the ocean are explained in Chapter three while waves and seabed sediments are dealt with in the next two chapter. It really looks like a great book if it wasn’t so damn expensive. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003102328 A New Spider Riffle Beetle A new Spider Riffle Beetle (Ancyronyx lianlabangorum sp. nov. (Coleoptera, Elmidae)has been made known to the western world. During their fieldwork in Kelabit Highlands Sarawak, a new, large and flightless specimen was collected. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.1003.55541 Pepper Farming
The timing of flower production and root rot are the major problems facing pepper (piper nigrum) farmers. The pepper plants also suffer from low yield of berry production which produces the pepper corns. Surveys were conducted in 18 pepper farms in the Sarawak region. Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science . Nov 2020, Vol. 43 Issue 4, p. 467-476. 10p.
Yellow Rice Stem Borer and early varieties of Rice The Yellow rice stem borer causes and 11% decrease in rice productions. Twelve Sarawak padi landraces (those seeds that were collected from aboriginal peoples) were studied for resistance to the borer. There was no clear resistance to the borer in this study. Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science. Nov2020, Vol. 43 Issue 4, p 491-501 11p
Tidung Lands to Borderlands
This Doctoral dissertation from Australia suggests that people living along the border have developed a national identify to the countries where they live in. More importantly, it traces the ethnography of these border people. Exploring three countries, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia” who imagine themselves as occupying a marginal place in the national order of things often seek to deepen, rather than resist, relations with the nation-states to which they are marginal.” University of Melbourne Minerva Access”
Asian Forest Scorpions
Asian Forest Scorpions began their journey by diverging from the main population when the India subcontinent left Africa during the Cretaceous. Range contraction occurred during the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction where they were found mainly in South India. During India’s journey to the Himalayas, the scorpions migrated to Sumatra when India brushed up against the island. The two other events occurred while India moved closer to Eurasia. The Indian scorpions who were in the south during the KT mass extinction, recolonized the Deccan Plateau and moved into north India. They diversified into more arid climates. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-78183-8
Racial Differences during the 19th Century
Another new book at another insane price of $125 US has managed to catch my interest but I just cannot afford the price. Who the hell can? Amsterdam University Press has a book “Racial Differences and the Colonial Wars of 19th Century Southeast Asia” that I would love to read. It contains several essays about nations and how they made race a factor of empire. If they would just lower the price to say $20, they could sell many more copies.
New Ginger Species
A new ginger species (Sundamomum corrugatum) has been discovered in north west Sarawak. At first glance it resembles Etlingera corrugatum with its deeply corrugated leaves. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-78183-8
Military Withdrawal from East Malaysia
“This article demonstrate that behind the scenes the withdrawal was for British decision-makers acutely problematic. In the end, Britain struggled to construct a withdrawal process that would reconcile often competing political and military imperatives. Borneo illustrates that military withdrawals therefore can also be extremely challenging even in the context of a successful military operation. ” https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03086534.2020.1848033
Key to Rafflesiaof Sarawak
Key to the species of Rafflesia in Sarawak
1a. Perigone lobes with elongated coalesced warts; Tanjung datu National park… R. hasseltii
1b. Perigone lobes without coalesced warts; elsewhere …………………………….………
2a. Open flower 80-94 cm across; white warts across the base of perigone lobes more than 10, very dense; Banjaran Hose ……………………………………………………… R. keithii
2b. Open flower 16-92 cm across (rarely); white warts across the base of perigone lobes less than 10, not so dense; elsewhere……………….…..……………………….……………
3a. Open flower 16-45 cm across; mature buds 15-26 cm across; diaphragm aperture 5-6 cm across; anthers 20; warts white against brick-red perigone background; Gunung Murud ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. R. pricei
3b. Open flower 44-92 cm across; mature buds 26-33 cm across; diaphragm aperture wider, 15-18 cm across; anthers 33 – 42; warts reddish-white against brick-red perigone back -ground; Gunung Gading National Park, Gunung Pueh and its vicinity…. R. tuan-mudae
Malayan Nature Journal 2020, 72(1), 19-25
