Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution
Author
Figueroa, Alex
Author
Low, Martyn E. Y.
0000-0001-7927-7149
martyn.low@nus.edu.sg
Author
Lim, Kelvin K. P.
0000-0002-0638-9198
kelvinlim@nus.edu.sg
text
Zootaxa
2023
2023-05-18
5287
1
1
378
http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5287.1.1
journal article
53474
10.11646/zootaxa.5287.1.1
90d83153-c065-4771-9ac7-35dda67996b5
1175-5326
7960319
78E23714-8973-4755-BC94-0A751D7D2B37
Dogania subplana
(Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809)
—
Native.
Trionyx subplanus
Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1809b: 11–12
, pl. 5, fig. 2.
Holotype
:
MNHN
A.5182, by original designation. Type locality:
None
stated/traced.
Malayan Forest Softshell Turtle
(
Figure 10A
)
Singapore
records.
Trionyx frenatus
—
Gray, 1855: 67
.
Dogania subplana
—
Gray, 1863a: 265
(“
Singapore
?”).—
Gray, 1873: 82
.—
de Rooij, 1915: 326–327
.—K. Lim & F.
Lim, 1989: 4
(Nee Soon Swamp Forest).—K.K.P. Lim & L.M. Chou, 1990: 56.—Yong, 1990: 27 (Bukit Timah [BTNR]).—K.P.
Lim & Subharaj, 1991
d: 4 (Rifle Range Road).—K.K.P. Lim & F.L.K.
Lim, 1992: 136
, 151.—P.K.L. Ng & K.K.P.
Lim, 1992: 260
.—E.K.
Chua, 1993: 61
.—L.M.
Chou
et al.
, 1994: 105
.—K.K.P.
Lim, 1994b: 227
, 331.—P.K.L. Ng
et al.
, 1995: 127.— R.C.H. Teo & Rajathurai, 1997: 393 (Nee Soon South [NSSF]; Rifle Range Forest).—
Manthey & Grossmann, 1997: 404
.—
Cox
et al.
, 1998: 135
.—Chan-ard
et al.
, 1999: 41.—B.L.
Lim & Das, 1999: 46
.—van
Dijk, 2000: 22
.—Iskandar, 2000: 84.—Touch
et al.
, 2000: 57.—
Malkmus
et al.
, 2002: 400
.—
Auliya, 2007: 82–83
.—K.K.P. Lim
et al.
, 2008: 176, 266.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2008: 127, 159.—P.K.A. Ng, 2009: 26, 53, 203.—
Das, 2010: 176
.—T.H. Ng & K.K.P. Lim, 2010: 119.—D.C.J. Yeo
et al.
, 2010: 194.—L.L.
Grismer, 2011a: 85
.—T.M.
Leong & Gan, 2011: 27
.— P.K.L. Ng
et al.
, 2011: 462.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2012: 127, 159.—H.H. Tan, 2014b: 115 (Sime Forest [SRF]).—E.K. Chua, 2015: 140.—M.A.H. Chua, 2016: 154 (Bukit Kalang [SRF]).—W. Wong, 2017: 64.—M.E.Y. Low & Pocklington, 2019: 334.—TTWG, 2021: 328.
Trionyx subplanus
—
Ģnther, 1864
: xii, 49.—
Boulenger, 1889a: 246–247
.—
Flower, 1896: 860
.—
Flower, 1899: 619
.—Ridley, 1899: 205.—
Hanitsch, 1910a: 5
(Bukit Timah [BTNR]).—
Boulenger, 1912: 9
.—
Hanitsch, 1912b: 14
.
Trionyx sinensis sub -planus
—Theobald, 1876: 227.
Lissemys punctata
—Iskandar, 2000: 86.
Remarks.
Gray (1855)
first reported
D. subplana
from
Singapore
when he examined a stuffed specimen collected by Wallace and described it as a new species,
Trionyx frenatus
(
Table 1
). Yet, a few years later,
Gray (1863a)
appeared unsure if
D. subplana
occurred in
Singapore
, listing the locality as “
Singapore
?”. Later again, he listed another specimen from
Singapore
, one belonging to Hardwicke (
Gray 1873
). Hanitsch (1909) mentioned that a young specimen from BTNR was purchased in 1908 by the Raffles Museum and represented the museum’s first preserved specimen of
D. subplana
, presently catalogued as ZRC.2.3. After this specimen, a published field account of
D. subplana
did not appear until
Lim & Lim (1989)
reported finding one in a stream at NSSF on
19 January 1989
, marking an 81-year rediscovery (
Table 2
). Shortly thereafter, a few individuals were photographed on three separate occasions in
1991 in
a stream off RRR (Subharaj &
Lim 1991b
), but then the subsequent report emerged only 23 years later when one was photographed on
4 December 2013
at SRF (Tan 2014b). Only one more record was published after this, and that was of one at Bukit Kalang on
16 October 2016
being attacked by a pair of
Channa lucius
guarding their brood (Chua 2016). The LKCNHM has four additional catalogued specimens, the earliest being collected in
February 1898
, and the latest on
10 December 2013
. However, Yong (1990) mentions a specimen presently not at LKCNHM, ZRC.2.0005, that was collected at BTNR by Smith in 1909.
Baker & Lim (2012)
wrote that
D. subplana
is only found in CCNR, apparently overlooking the two BTNR records.
Occurrence.
Restricted to CNR and surrounding Nature Parks and forests. Uncommon.
Singapore
conservation status.
Critically Endangered.
Conservation priority.
Highest.
IUCN conservation status.
Least Concern [2021].
LKCNHM
&
NHMUK
Museum
specimens.
Singapore
(no locality)
:
BMNH
(no #) (no date),
ZRC
.2.23 (
Feb-1898
)
,
ZRC
.2.4 (
26-Jun-1909
)
,
ZRC
.2.21 (
08-Sep-1970
)
;
Bukit Timah:
ZRC
.2.3 (1908);
Sime Road Forest
:
ZRC
.2.7035 (
10-Dec-2013
)
.
Additional
Singapore
museum specimens.
Singapore
(no locality):
CAS;
Mandai Road:
CAS.
Singapore
localities.
Bukit Timah (not specified)—Bukit Timah Nature Reserve—Mandai Road—Nee Soon Swamp Forest—Rifle Range Road—Sime Road Forest.
Genus
Pelochelys
Gray, 1864
(1 species)
Pelochelys
Gray, 1864: 80
, 89 (
type
species:
Pelochelys cantorii
Gray, 1864
, by subsequent designation by Ģnther, 1865: 108; gender masculine).