The Snakes of the Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara), Indonesia

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The Snakes of the Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara), Indonesia Asian Herpetological Research 2011, 2(1): 46-54 DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1245.2011.00046 The Snakes of the Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara), Indonesia Ruud DE LANG* Rotterdam, The Netherlands Abstract From the existing literature and data from museum specimens an overview is presented of all currently known terrestrial and semi-aquatic snakes of the Lesser Sunda Islands, in the Wallacean area of Indonesia. In total, twenty-nine species are known to inhabit the area. Of these eight are endemic to the area: Boiga hoeseli, Coelognathus subradiatus, Dendrelaphis inornatus, Stegonotus florensis, Cylindrophis opisthorhodus, Broghammerus timoriensis, Liasis mackloti and Typhlops schmutzi. Insular endemism is only found at the subspecific level, including Liasis mackloti dunni (Wetar), Liasis mackloti savuensis (Sawu), Ramphotyphlops polygrammicus brongersmai (Sumba), Ramphotyphlops polygrammicus elberti (Lombok) and Ramphotyphlops polygrammicus florensis (Flores). Such endemism may be due to the relatively young geological age of the Lesser Sunda Islands and that the snake fauna is still underestimated. Taxonomy of the genus Cylindrophis, the species Coelognathus subradiatus, Dendrelaphis inornatus, Cryptelytrops insularis, and the five subspecies of Ramphotyphlops polygrammicus need to be reviewed. Ecological studies are urgently required to establish if the species Broghammerus timoriensis and Liasis mackloti savuensis are endangered and which conservation measures should be taken. Abstrak Telah dilakukan pengamatan ulang dari kepustakaan yang ada, data dari databank Western Australian Museum, maupun koleksi museum. Hasil tersebut dirangkum dalam suatu tinjauan mengenai semua jenis ular yang hidup di darat maupun di air-tawar dari daerah Nusa Tenggara sebagai bagian dari daerah Wallacea. Jumlah jenis yang dapat dipastikan berjumlah dua puluh sembilan jenis, dan delapan di antaranya merupakan jenis yang endemik, yaitu Boiga hoeseli, Coelognathus subradiatus, Dendrelaphis inornatus, Stegonotus florensis, Cylindrophis opisthorhodus, Broghammerus timoriensis, Liasis mackloti dan Typhlops schmutzi. Jenis endemic dalam daerah pulau hanya meliputi anak jenis: Liasis mackloti dunni (Wetar), Liasis mackloti savuensis (Sawu), Ramphotyphlops polygrammicus brongersmai (Sumba), Ramphotyphlops polygrammicus elberti (Lombok) dan Ramphotyphlops polygrammicus florensis (Flores). Hal ini diperkirakan merupakan konsekuensi langsung dari sejarah geologi yang relatif singkat namun dapat juga disebabkan karena kekayaan jenis ular kurang dipelajari dengan lebih seksama. Kedudukan sistematik dari Coelognathus subradiatus, Dendrelaphis inornatus, Cylindrophis boulengeri, C. opisthorhodus, dan ke-lima subspecies Ramphotyphlops polygrammicus serta Cryptelytrops insularis perlu ditinjau kembali. Jenis-jenis yang diperkirakan terancam dan perlu perlindungan adalah jenis-jenis piton Broghammerus timoriensis dan Liasis mackloti savuensis. Penelitian ekologi perlu segara dilakukan untuk menentukan apakah jenis-jenis tersebut perlu perlindungan, dan juga tindakan konservasi yang mana bisa diambil. Keywords Ophidia, serpents, Lesser Sunda Islands, Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, checklist, distribution 1. Introduction is one of the two countries in the world with ecosystems possessing the highest degree of biodiversity (Mittermeier Indonesia is a country on an archipelago in tropical Southeast et al., 1999). Its habitats and species are threatened Asia with over 240 millions inhabitants as of January 2010 by increasing demands of natural resources from a (Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics, 2010), which growing population, resulting in habitat destruction consists of approximately 17,000 islands scattered around and species overexploitation by hunting and trading. the equator between Peninsular Malaysia and Australia. It Indonesia is suspected to host the worldwide high- est numbers of amphibian and reptile species. Accor- * Corresponding author: Drs. Ruud de LANG, Grieglaan 18, 3055TH, ding to the Indonesian Biodiversity Action Plan 16% Rotterdam, The Netherlands, with his research focusing on serpentes of the world’s amphibian and reptiles occur in this of Indonesia, especially Sulawesi, the Lesser Sunda Islands and the country (BAPPENAS, 1993). However, in view of Moluccas. Email: [email protected] the alarming rate of deforestation and the low level Received: 22 November 2010 Accepted: 11 Feburary 2011 of knowledge of its herpetofauna, much additional No. 1 Ruud DE LANG The Snakes of the Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara), Indonesia 47 research is urgently required to collect information the long dry season by aestivating (Auffenberg, 1980). on which to base conservation measures. This is par- Most islands of the Lesser Sunda Islands group ticularly acute in those parts of Indonesia where island are very young geologically (1–15 million years old) areas are small and, as a consequence, extension of and have never been connected to landmasses. This natural vegetation and absolute numbers of individu- means that their flora and fauna began to evolve on in- als for most of the species are already low. This applies dependently. The islands can be classified into three for instance to eastern Indonesia, e.g., the Lesser Sunda types: 1) Young volcanic (oceanic) islands. Examples: Islands and the Moluccas (Iskandar and Erdelen, 2006). Lombok, Sumbawa, Komodo, Flores, Solor, Adonara, The Lesser Sunda Islands, or Nusa Tenggara, is a chain Lomblen, Pantar, Alor and Wetar; 2) Nonvolcanic of small islands (“stepping stones”) between Bali and (oceanic) islands. Examples: Sawu, Roti and Semau; the Australo-Papuan region (Figure 1). This area belongs 3) Continental islands broken off from the Austra- to the territory of the State of Indonesia, except for the lian continental crust. Examples: Timor and Sumba. sovereign state of Timor-Leste, located in the eastern Volcanoes are present on several islands. Almost part of Timor and on some islands nearby. This region half the area is mountainous with steep slopes: 59% of is quite different from the other parts of Indonesia. The Lombok and Sumbawa, and 45% of the islands between climate is drier and more seasonal, resulting in a diffe- Sumbawa and Wetar. Sumba is a level exception. rent flora and fauna. Biogeographically, the area is very The most extensive vegetation types present are moist interesting because the fauna is a mixture of western primary lowland and submontane forest, and forest on and eastern elements. Many endemic or rare species limestone rock. The forests are divided in relatively small inhabit the Lesser Sunda Islands and our picture of the patches, highly scattered over the islands. Remnants of fauna, including the herpetofauna, is still incomplete. monsoon forests (dry or moist deciduous forests, dry It is commonly known that the Komodo Dragon evergreen forests and thorn forests) are also present. (Varanus komodoensis), the largest lizard in the world, is Wet zones with an annual rainfall of 100 mm or less endemic to the area. However, three non-marine turtles during 0–4 months and dry zones with an annual rain- that are less well known are present: Chelodina mccordi, fall of 100 mm or less during 9–12 months are spread Cuora amboinensis and Pelodiscus sinensis (Kuchling et over each island. Northwest monsoon winds bring from al., 2007; Samedi and Iskandar, 2000; Shepherd and Ibar- December to March a monthly rainfall of 200–400 mm rondo, 2005). Interestingly, some amphibian species, such at maximum. From April to September dry southeast as Oreophryne jeffersoniana and Kaloula baleata from tradewinds blow, bringing 0–100 mm rain per month. Komodo are able to overcome the problem of surviving They are strongest and coolest in July and August, and Figure 1 Map of the Lesser Sunda Islands 48 Asian Herpetological Research Vol. 2 are intermediate from October to November. Diurnal tem- the east (Alor) or west (Lombok, Sumba). The data of this peratures are maximum at noon and decrease gradually study show that the populations on islands, which were to a minimum just before next day’s sunrise. Maximum joined through land bridges during the Pleistocene, when temperatures (35–38°C) usually occur during October sea le-vels were approximately 120 m lower than pres- and November and minimum (13–15°C) during July ent (Flores and Lomblen), are more similar than those on or August. Fluctuations in daily temperature are less in islands, which remained isolated at that time by sea bar- the wet season (December to March; 7–9°C) than in the riers (Lombok, Sumba, Alor). How and Kitchener (1997) dry season (July to August; 13°C) (Monk et al., 1997). calculated the geographic similarities of all land and fresh Based on faunal observations in the Indo-Australian water snakes present on 36 Indonesian islands. They found archipelago, three biogeographic lines have been defined: two main groups: 1) the Greater Sunda Islands, the Lesser Wallace’s Line, Weber’s Line and Lydekker’s Line (Whit- Sunda Islands, Sulawesi and the Banggai and Sula archi- ten et al., 1987) (Figure 2). The Malay Peninsula and the pelagos, which have principally Asian snake genera and Greater Sunda Islands (Sumatra, Borneo and Java) as well species, and 2) the islands of northern and southern Malu- as Bali belong to the former Sunda shelf, which is pre- ku, New Guinea and adjacent islands and Australia, which sently inundated in part. New Guinea and Australia were have principally Australo-Papuan genera and species. The parts of the former Sahul
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