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Herpetofauna of the Northern Corridor: a Review of Recent Herpetological Discoveries Around the Malaysian-Thai Border Regions *E

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Herpetofauna of the Northern Corridor: a Review of Recent Herpetological Discoveries Around the Malaysian-Thai Border Regions *E Journal of Wildlife and Parks, 33: 15-29 (2018) 15 HERPETOFAUNA OF THE NORTHERN CORRIDOR: A REVIEW OF RECENT HERPETOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES AROUND THE MALAYSIAN-THAI BORDER REGIONS *Evan S.H. Quah1 & Shahrul Anuar Md. Sah1,2 1School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia. 2Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Penang, Malaysia. *Corresponding author’s email: [email protected]; [email protected] ABSTRACT A review of published herpetological literature of the areas around the Malaysian- Thai border reveal that these areas are herpetologically rich and support a unique assemblage of species not found elsewhere in the country. This region forms an important biogeographical transition zone between many Indochinese and Sundaland taxa. In recent years, many new species have been described from the northern states of Peninsular Malaysia and southern Thailand, with many of these new species being narrow ranged endemics. Thus, greater efforts must be made to thoroughly sample these areas to assess their herpetofaunal diversity so that appropriate measures can be taken to preserve them. Keywords: Thai-Malay Peninsula, herpetofauna, amphibians, reptiles, biogeography Received (06-December-2017); Accepted (27-April-2018); Available online (01-June-2018) Citation: Quah E.S.H. & Shahrul Anuar M.S. (2018). Herpetofauna of the northern corridor: a review of recent herpetological discoveries around the Malaysian-Thai border regions. Journal of Wildlife and Parks, 33: 15-29. 16 Evan S.H. Quah & Shahrul Anuar Md. Sah INTRODUCTION The Malaysian-Thai border that stretches for approximate 650 km is situated at the meeting point of two very important biogeographical regions, the Indo- Burmese or Indochinese region and the Sundaland region (Myers et al., 2000; Woodruff, 2010). This area is situated close to the Kangar-Pattani Line (KPL) at 6–7°N that is a point of major floristic and climatic transition from aseasonal to seasonal evergreen tropical forest in the Indo-Sundaic region of Southeast Asia (Van Steenis, 1950; Whitmore, 1984; Morley, 2000; Wikramanayake et al., 2000; Woodruff, 2003, 2010; Baltzer et al., 2008, 2009). Phytogeographers believe that the transition between Continental Asiatic flora to the north and Malesian flora to the south of the KPL is associated with the occurrence of one or more months of drought north of the KPL (Whitmore, 1990). These same climatic forces that have influenced the flora, have also impacted the distribution of the fauna in the region and many studies have demonstrated it to be an area of faunal exchange in variety of taxa such as birds, mammals, and lizards (Reddy, 2008; Woodruff & Turner, 2009; Patou et al., 2010; Grismer, 2011; Grismer et al., 2014b). The region has always intrigued naturalist and the Malaysian-Thai border have been an area of herpetological interest for over a century (Flower, 1896, 1899; Laidlaw, 1900, 1901a, 1901b; Boulenger, 1903, 1912; Smith, 1930). The northern states of Perlis, Kedah, Perak and Kelantan in Peninsular Malaysia serve as the southernmost limit for the distribution of numerous species of amphibians and reptiles with Indochinese affinities that extend southward from adjacent Thailand along the Malay Peninsula (Chan et al., 2011). Some areas like the Belum- Temengor complex have been the subject of many surveys into its herpetofauna and many notable finds were made in the past (Diong et al., 1995; Kiew et al., 1995; Lim et al., 1995a; Lim et al., 1995b; Norsham et al., 2000; Grismer et al., 2004). Nevertheless, vast areas still remain that have never been surveyed. This is especially true on the east coast in the state of Kelantan that remains severely understudied in terms of its herpetofauna and will most likely harbour many species new to science. METHODOLOGY A review of published literature of herpetological surveys and new species discoveries around the Malaysian-Thai border regions from the 1890s to 2017 was conducted to mine for secondary data. Records were reviewed and compared and the biogeography of the region is discussed. Journal of Wildlife and Parks, 33: 15-29 (2018) 17 RESULTS & DISCUSSION The border regions of Malaysia and Thailand have been areas of rich herpetological discoveries in recent years with many new species having been described in the last few years (Chan-ard, 2003; Grismer et al., 2006; Chan et al., 2009, 2011). In the four Malaysian states of Kedah, Perlis, Perak and Kelantan that share a border with Thailand, a total of thirteen species have been described in the last decade (Figure 1). When broken down by state, five were described from Perlis; Chiromantis marginis Chan, Grismer, Anuar, Quah, Grismer, Wood, Muin, and Ahmad, 2011, Cnemaspis biocellata Grismer, Chan, Nasir and Sumontha, 2008, C. omari Grismer, Wood, Shahrul, Riyanto, Ahmad, Muin, Sumontha, Grismer, Chan, Quah and Pauwels, 2014b, Cyrtodactylus astrum Grismer, Wood, Quah, Anuar, Muin, Sumontha, Ahmad, Bauer, Wangkulangkul, Grismer and Pauwels, 2012, Lycodon cavernicolus Grismer, Quah, Anuar, Muin, Wood and Nor, 2014a, six were from Kedah (Langkawi archipelago); Bronchocela rayaensis Grismer, Wood, Lee, Quah, Anuar, Ngadi and Sites 2015a, Cnemapsis mahsuriae Grismer, Wood, Quah, Shahrul, Ngadi and Ahmad, 2015b; C. monachorum Grismer, Norhayati, Chan, Daicus, Muin, Wood and Grismer, 2009b, C. roticanai Grismer and Chan 2010; Cyrtodactylus macrotuberculatus Grismer and Norhayati 2008, C. langkawiensis Grismer, Wood, Quah, Anuar, Muin, Sumontha, Ahmad, Bauer, Wangkulangkul, Grismer and Pauwels, 2012, one from Perak; Sphenomorphus temengorensis Grismer, Ahmad and Chan, 2009a, and two from Kelantan; Cnemaspis karsticola Grismer, Grismer, Wood and Chan, 2008b and Cyrtodactylus jelawangensis Grismer, Wood, Shahrul, Quah, Muin, Mohamed, Chan, Sumarli, Loredo and Heinz, 2014c. Many of these species are also narrow-ranged endemics, especially the karst-adapted forms such as C. karsticola and L. cavernicolus that are restricted to specific caves or karst blocks (Grismer et al., 2008b, 2014a; Grismer, 2011). Similarly, the southern provinces of Thailand have also served as the type locality for many species of amphibians and reptiles such as Icthyophis suppachaii Taylor, 1960, Ansonia siamensis Kiew, 1985, Leptobrachium hendricksoni Taylor, 1962b, L. smithi Matsui, Nabhitabhata and Panha, 1999, Leptolalax solus Matsui, 2006, Kaloula aureata Nutphand, 1989, Limnonectes jarujini Matsui, Panha, Khonsue and Kuraishi, 2010, Humerana miopus (Boulenger, 1918), Polypedates discantus Rujirawan, Stuart and Aowphol, 2013, Rhacophorus cyanopunctatus Manthey and Steiof 1998, R. robinsonii Boulenger, 1903, Theloderma horridum (Boulenger, 1903), Hieremys annandalii (Boulenger, 1903), Leiolepis boehmei Darevsky and Kupriyanova, 1993, Larutia nubisilvicola Chan-ard, Cota, Makchai and Lhaotaew, 2011, Dibamus alfredi Taylor, 1962a, Cnemaspis chanardi and C. narathiwatensis Grismer, Sumontha, Cota, Grismer, Wood, Pauwels and 18 Evan S.H. Quah & Shahrul Anuar Md. Sah Kunya, 2010, Cyrtodactylus sanook Pauwels, Sumontha, Latinne and Grismer, 2013, C. thirakhupti Pauwels, Bauer, Sumontha and Chanhome, 2004, C. wangkulangkulae Sumontha, Pauwels, Suwannakarn, Nutatheera and Sodob, 2014, Lycodon ophiophagus Vogel, David, Pauwels, Sumontha, Norval, Hendrix, Vu and Ziegler, 2009 and Trimeresurus fucatus (Vogel, David & Pauwels, 2004). Some of these species such as Leptobrachium hendricksoni, L. smithi, Humerana miopus and Theloderma horridum are already known to occur in Malaysia (Berry 1975; Norhayati et al., 2005; Grismer et al., 2006) and recent fieldwork has recorded a number of new country records for some of these more northerly taxa in the country such as Leptolalax solus (Matsui et al., 2017). Figure 1 Some species described from the Malaysian-Thai border regions. A: Chiromantis marginis. B: Lycodon cavernicolus. C: Cyrtodactylus macrotuberculatus. D: Cnemaspis biocellata. E: Cyrtodactylus astrum. All photographs by Evan S.H. Quah. Journal of Wildlife and Parks, 33: 15-29 (2018) 19 Another example was the discovery of the Narathiwat Rock Gecko (Cnemaspis narathiwatensis) that was a new country record during the most recent herpetofauna survey at Sungai Enam of the Belum-Temengor region (Quah & Shahrul, 2013). The discovery of C. narathiwatensis was a noteworthy find as previously this species was only known from the Province of Narathiwat in Thailand (Grismer et al., 2010; 2014b). Given the proximity of the Belum- Temengor region to the Thai border, the discovery did not come as a surprise. Previously Temengor was also the locality of the first country record of the frog Raorchestes parvulus (previously Philautus parvulus) (Sukumaran, 2002). It is a member of a largely South Asian group that just crosses the border of Thailand is now known from scattered locations in Northern Peninsular Malaysia. Another Indochinese species which has been recorded at Temengor is the lizard Sphenomorphus maculatus (Diong et al., 1995) which distribution extends from eastern India eastwards to southern China and Vietnam and southwards through Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand (Taylor 1963; Grismer, 2011; Chan- ard et al., 2015). These discoveries echo findings made at other areas along the Malaysian-Thai border. Frogs tentatively assigned to the species Chiromantis nongkhorensis (then identified as Chirixalus cf. nongkhorensis) were recorded at Ulu Muda, Kedah (Norhayati et al., 2004, 2005) . It is a member of another largely Indochinese group
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