Abstract
Islands are generally rich in marine biodiversity, but it also often hides unique and endemic terrestrial wildlife. The data of terrestrial wildlife in Malaysian islands are still severely lacking, notably from small islands. Hence, this study was conducted to survey and update the small mammal diversity (bats and non-volant small mammals) in Pulau Perhentian Kecil, a tourist destination famous for its magnificent, diverse marine life and white sandy beaches. Despite their touristic popularity, very few information is known about the faunal diversity in this island compare to their more massive neighbouring island, Pulau Perhentian Besar. The survey was carried out from 21 to 30 May 2014 recorded 56 individuals encompasses eight species of bats and five species of non-volant small mammals that were captured using mist nets, harp traps, and cage traps. The survey recorded 10 new species locality records for the island in which, five species were never recorded in Pulau Perhentian Besar. Hipposideros dyacorum, Tylonycteris fulvida, T. malayana, Rattus exulans, and Sundamys annandalei are also new distribution records for the Malaysian East Coast islands highlighting the importance of protecting island biodiversity. Nonetheless, it is hoped that this study not only highlights the species diversity on the island but also serve as a data for sustainable island tourism management planning, which will be crucial for the sustainable development and management of this ecologically sensitive area.
Highlights
Oceanic islands are well known to contain unique and endemic wildlife, contributing disproportionately 15–20 % of global terrestrial species which are available in one of the 3.5% planet’s offshore landmass (Whittaker et al 2017)
The wide distribution of bats coupled with the ability of flight allows bats to fill a plethora of niches making them the second most diverse group of mammals with 110 bat species documented in the Peninsular Malaysia alone (Lim et al 2017)
Eonycteris spelaea, Hipposideros dyacorum, Tylonycteris fulvida, Tylonycteris malayana, and Rattus exulans were recorded as singletons
Summary
Oceanic islands are well known to contain unique and endemic wildlife, contributing disproportionately 15–20 % of global terrestrial species which are available in one of the 3.5% planet’s offshore landmass (Whittaker et al 2017). Data on island mammals (bats and non-volant small mammals) in Malaysia are uncommon especially for small islands like Pulau Perhentian Kecil (Roslan et al 2016; Jayaraj et al 2019). Bats are often the main native island mammals, providing seed dispersal and pollination services with their added mobility like flying foxes (Fujita & Turtle 1991). Malaysian non-volant small mammal diversity reports on islands remain limited by effort and funding because island trips are costly and climatic events are unpredictable. One of the common introduced mammal culprits are rodents, causing harm to the natives to the point of extinction in islands all around the world such as New Zealand, French Polynesia, and Lord Howe Island, Australia (Towns et al 2006; Harper & Bunbury 2015)
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