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Sunda pangolin

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Sunda pangolin
CITESAppendix I(CITES)[1]
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Pholidota
Family: Manidae
Genus: Manis
Subgenus: Paramanis
Species:
M. javanica
Binomial name
Manis javanica
Sunda pangolin range

TheSunda pangolin(Manis javanica), also known as theMalayanorJavan pangolin,is a species ofpangolin.[2]It is a member of the Manidae family.[3]Its English name comes from the Malay name "pëngulin", which means "roller".[4]

It is native toSoutheast Asia,including Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and the islands of Borneo, Java, Sumatra and theLesser Sunda Islands.[1]It prefers forested primary, secondary and scrub forest habitats, but also lives in rubber andpalm oilplantations. It is largely arboreal.

Taxonomy

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In the past, this species has included the closely relatedPalawan pangolin(M. culionensis), as both are in the subgenusParamanis.[5]It is closely related to theChinese pangolin,although the Malayan species is larger, lighter in colour, and has shorter fore claws.

Phylogeography

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During the Pilo-Pleistocene, Something that has shaped its phylogeographic patterns is the experience of the pangolin geographically and its climate history.[3]

Description

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The skin of the Sunda pangolin's feet is granular, although pads are found on its front feet. It has thick and powerful claws to dig into the soils in search of ant nests or to tear into termite mounds. The Sunda pangolin has poor eyesight, but a highly developed sense of smell. Lacking teeth, its long, sticky tongue serves to collect ants and termites. Unlike other mammals, pangolins are covered by rows of scales (made of keratin) and fibrous hair to protect them from danger. The Sunda pangolin's scales are brown in color. Some even have white scales along their tails for an unknown reason.

[6]The head-body length of this pangolin can measure 40–65 cm (16–26 in), tail length is 35–56 cm (14–22 in), and its weight is up to 10 kg (22 lb). Males are larger than females.[5][7]Mature female Pangolin have needle-like nipples that are used to feed young. The teat does not grow or visibly change when the cub is nursing and is present even before maturity.[8]

It has been suggested that pangolins' olfactory bulbs are enlarged in relation to other mammals. Their use of their snouts and tongues supports that they rely on olfaction to eat. Research has been done on the African tree pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis) that has supported this. Still, auditory systems and visual systems are not exceptionally good. Research has also been done to support the idea that the anatomy of the eyes is well-adapted to allow for nocturnal vision.[9]

Behaviour and ecology

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Sunda Pangolin climbing a palm tree

Pangolins give birth annually to one or two offspring. They breed in the autumn, and females give birth in the winter burrow. Den preference has been known to shift at this time to favor mature forest tree hollows. Presumably, these hollows offer more fortification and stability for the decreased mobility that comes with birthing and caring for young. The amount of time the mother will spend at any one of these dens will increase during parental care periods.[10]Parental care is given for about three months. In these three months, the range of the mother Pangolin drastically decreases as she travels and forages with her offspring. Only a few weeks before the offspring becomes fully independent, the mother and her young can display brief spikes in diurnal activity.[10]Pangolins are sometimes found in pairs, but normally they are solitary, nocturnal, and behave timidly. They protect their soft underparts by rolling into balls when they feel threatened. They are strong diggers and make burrows lined with vegetation for insulation near termite mounds and ant nests.[1]

Sunda pangolins have low immunity, making them sensitive to fluctuations in temperature.[11]

The Sunda pangolin's main predators are humans,tigers,and theclouded leopard.[citation needed]

Compared to other species of pangolin, Sunda have a much higher distribution across Southeast Asia.

In culture

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It is important to the traditions ofOrang Asliin theMalay Peninsulaand indigenous peoples ofSabahlike theKadazan,Dusun,MurutandRungus.The Kadazans use its scales to make specialarmourto protect their warriors.[12]

Conservation

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Taxidermy at theBogor Zoology Museum

Pangolins as a family are among the most protected animals due to heavy poaching, exploitation, and trafficked animals. Like other pangolin species, the Sunda pangolin is hunted for its skin, scales, and meat, used in clothing manufacture and traditional medicine. Scales are made into rings as charms against rheumatic fever, and meat is eaten by indigenous peoples. Despite enjoying protected status almost everywhere in its range, illegal international trade, largely driven by Chinese buyers, has led to rapidly decreasing population numbers. The Sunda pangolin is currently considered to becritically endangered.[1] As of 2016, all eight pangolin species are listed onCITES Appendix I,which prohibits commercial international trade of wild-caught specimens or their body parts.[13]China raised the protection status of all pangolin species to the highest level in 2020.[14]

Pangolins are also facing habitat loss which has aided their lead to extinction. With how small their population numbers are, it is difficult for scientists to study them while in their natural habitat. The low numbers give scientists little to work with when sampling. Another issue scientists are facing is their little knowledge of pangolin behavior, as well as their nocturnal nature. This gives them a hard time locating remaining populations. Pangolins are typically unable to be successfully rehabilitated due to their need for a proper diet.[9]

In the past captive breeding efforts have all yielded little to no success due in part to the inability to rehabilitate pangolins, as well as pangolins' nocturnal nature. There is little data on the breeding habits and reproduction rates. Additionally, not much is known about pangolin growth and development. However, in recent studies of captive pangolins, researchers found that pangolin cubs were typically able to be weaned off the mother after around 130 days. Using this information and future studies, conservation efforts can be made to protect dens and gain more knowledge about the sparse pangolin population.[8]

The data we have now on all eight species is quite concerning as all are coming threateningly close to endangerment. In order for us to gather more knowledge on pangolin behavior and cognition, we need more collaboration with conservationists, biologists, ecologists, and psychologists to develop strategies to collaborate on.[9]

Health

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Ametagenomicstudy published in 2019 previously revealed thatSARS-CoV,the strain of the virus that causesSARS,was the most widely distributed coronavirus among a sample of Sunda pangolins.[15]On 7 February 2020, it was announced that researchers fromGuangzhouhad discovered apangolinsample with a viral nucleic acid sequence "99% identical" toSARS-CoV-2.[16]When released, the results clarified that "the receptor-binding domain of the S protein of the newly discovered Pangolin-CoV is virtually identical to that of 2019-nCoV, with oneamino aciddifference. "[17]Pangolins are protected under Chinese law, but theirpoaching and tradingfor use intraditional Chinese medicineremains common.[18][19]

Pangolin coronaviruses found to date only share at most 92% of their whole genomes with SARS-CoV-2, making them less similar thanRaTG13to SARS-CoV-2.[20]This is insufficient to prove pangolins to be the intermediate host; in comparison, the SARS virus responsible for the 2002–2004 outbreak shared 99.8% of its genome with a known civet coronavirus.[21]

There is a possibly risk of disease when trading Sunda pangolins. This could effect humans, livestock, and other populations of wildlife. It is known for pangolins to carry disease as several have been found During capturing.

References

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  1. ^abcdeChallender, D.; Willcox, D.H.A.; Panjang, E.; Lim, N.; Nash, H.; Heinrich, S.; Chong, J. (2019)."Manis javanica".IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.2019:e.T12763A123584856.doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T12763A123584856.en.Retrieved17 January2022.
  2. ^Schlitter, D.A. (2005)."Order Pholidota".InWilson, D.E.;Reeder, D.M (eds.).Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference(3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 530.ISBN978-0-8018-8221-0.OCLC62265494.
  3. ^abSitam, F.T.; Salgado-Lynn, M.; Denel, A.; Panjang, E.; McEwing, R.; Lightson, A.; Ogden, R.; Maruji, N.A.; Yahya, N.K.; Ngau, C.; Mohd Kulaimi, N.A.; Ithnin, H.; Rovie-Ryan, J.; Abu Bakar, M.S.; Ewart, K.M. (2023)."Phylogeography of the Sunda pangolin,Manis javanica:Implications for taxonomy, conservation management and wildlife forensics ".Ecology and Evolution.13(8): e10373.Bibcode:2023EcoEv..1310373S.doi:10.1002/ece3.10373.PMC10427774.PMID37593756.
  4. ^"Pangolins".www.zsl.org.Retrieved26 April2024.
  5. ^abSchlitter, D.A. (2005)."SubgenusParamanis".InWilson, D.E.;Reeder, D.M (eds.).Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference(3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 530.ISBN978-0-8018-8221-0.OCLC62265494.
  6. ^"Pangolins | ZSL".www.zsl.org.Retrieved26 April2024.
  7. ^Shepherd, Chris R.; Shepherd, Loretta Ann (2012).A Naturalist's Guide to the Mammals of Southeast Asia.Wiltshire, UK: John Beaufoy Publishing. p. 12.ISBN978-1906780715.
  8. ^abYan, Dingyu; Zeng, Xiangyan; Jia, Miaomiao; Guo, Xiaobing; Que, Tengcheng; Tao, Li; Li, Mingzhe; Li, Baocai; Chen, Jinyan; Xu, Shanghua; Hua, Yan; Wu, Shibao; Zeng, Peng; Li, Shousheng; Wei, Yongjie (14 September 2022)."Weaning period and growth patterns of captive Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) cubs".PLOS ONE.17(9): e0272020.Bibcode:2022PLoSO..1772020Y.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0272020.ISSN1932-6203.PMC9473421.PMID36103487.
  9. ^abcDiPaola, Joshua D.; Yindee, Marnoch; Plotnik, Joshua M. (17 June 2020)."Investigating the use of sensory information to detect and track prey by the Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) with conservation in mind".Scientific Reports.10(1): 9787.Bibcode:2020NatSR..10.9787D.doi:10.1038/s41598-020-65898-x.ISSN2045-2322.PMC7300028.PMID32555311.
  10. ^abLim, NTL; Ng, PKL (18 January 2008)."Home range, activity cycle and natal den usage of a female Sunda pangolin Manis javanica (Mammalia: Pholidota) in Singapore".Endangered Species Research.4:233–240.doi:10.3354/esr00032.
  11. ^Tang, Karisa N.; Buoscio, Dana; Langan, Jennifer; Adkesson, Michael J.; Chinnadurai, Sathya; Aitken-Palmer, Copper (2018). "Echocardiographic Parameters in African White-Bellied Pangolins (Phataginus Tricuspis) Without Cardiac Disease".Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine.50(3): 604–610.doi:10.1638/2018-0224.PMID33517629.S2CID202727934.
  12. ^Davies, Glyn, ed. (2022).Wildlife Atlas of Sabah.Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia:WWF-Malaysia. p. 220.ISBN978-967-0237-73-2.
  13. ^Carrington, D. (2016)."Pangolins thrown a lifeline at global wildlife summit with total trade ban".The Guardian.
  14. ^"China raises protection for pangolins by removing scales from medicine list".The Guardian.2020.Retrieved22 June2020.
  15. ^Liu, P.; Chen, W.; Chen, J.P. (2019)."Viral metagenomics revealed Sendai Virus and Coronavirus infection of Malayan Pangolins (Manis javanica) ".Viruses.11(11): 979.doi:10.3390/v11110979.PMC6893680.PMID31652964.
  16. ^Cyranoski, D. (2020)."Did pangolins spread the China coronavirus to people?".Nature.doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00364-2.PMID33547428.S2CID212825975.Archivedfrom the original on 7 February 2020.Retrieved12 February2020.
  17. ^Xiao K, Zhai J, Feng Y (May 2020)."Isolation of SARS-CoV-2-related coronavirus from Malayan pangolins".Nature.583(7815): 286–289.Bibcode:2020Natur.583..286X.doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2313-x.PMID32380510.
  18. ^Kelly, G. (2015)."Pangolins: 13 facts about the world's most hunted animal".The Telegraph.Archivedfrom the original on 24 December 2019.Retrieved9 March2020.
  19. ^Gorman, J. (2020)."China's Ban on Wildlife trade a big step, but has loopholes, conservationists say".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on 13 March 2020.Retrieved23 March2020.
  20. ^Zhang, T.; Wu, Q.; Zhang, Z. (2020)."Probable Pangolin origin of SARS-CoV-2 associated with the COVID-19 outbreak".Current Biology.30(7): 1346–1351.e2.Bibcode:2020CBio...30E1346Z.doi:10.1016/j.cub.2020.03.022.PMC7156161.PMID32197085.
  21. ^Cyranoski, D. (2020). "Mystery deepens over animal source of coronavirus".Nature.579(7797): 18–19.Bibcode:2020Natur.579...18C.doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00548-w.PMID32127703.S2CID256822283.
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