Pangolin Species Research Articles

English

Pangolins have attracted considerable attention in recent times due to their high rank in international trade. Whole carcass or body parts of extant pangolin species were used for many purposes which include: food, as a complementary protein source; in traditional medicinal preparations, and as ornaments. Factors responsible for the continued exploitation of pangolins were: low cost and very short time needed to acquire skills required for hunting; little or no further processing before the animals are disposed; high profit margins; general ignorance about conservation status and non-enforcement of the laws governing their trade. Traditional African medicinal practices believed that pangolins have a lot of medicinal, magical or mystical properties, sometimes requiring juvenile and pregnant female animals often rationalising exploitation as more important than conservation. Substituting other animals for pangolins is not always feasible because the possible substitutes were of greater conservation concerns. Local and intercontinental trade in pangolins also created a major challenge to the survival of remaining populations. Available evidence suggested the conservation status of six pangolin species (all four African and two Asian species) is growing worse. There is a need to determine the sizes of isolated populations across their ranges in the region.   Key words: Pangolins, wildlife utilisation, biodiversity conservation, pangolins trade, reducing pangolin demand, sustainability.

Knowledge and uses of African pangolins as a source of traditional medicine in Ghana.

Traditional medicine has been practised in Ghana for centuries with the majority of Ghanaians still patronising the services of traditional healers. Throughout Africa a large number of people use pangolins as a source of traditional medicine, however, there is a dearth of information on the use of animals in folk medicine in Ghana, in particular the use of pangolins. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalent use of pangolins and the level of knowledge of pangolin use among traditional healers in Ghana for the treatment of human ailments. Data was gathered from 48 traditional healers using semi-structured interviews on the traditional medicinal use of pangolin body parts in the Kumasi metropolis of Ghana. The cultural importance index, relative frequency of citation, informant agreement ratio and use agreement values were calculated to ascertain the most culturally important pangolin body part as well as the level of knowledge dissemination among traditional healers with regards pangolin body parts. Our study revealed that 13 body parts of pangolins are used to treat various medicinal ailments. Pangolin scales and bones were the most prevalent prescribed body parts and indicated the highest cultural significance among traditional healing practices primarily for the treatment of spiritual protection, rheumatism, financial rituals and convulsions. Despite being classified under Schedule 1 of Ghana’s Wildlife Conservation Act of 1971 (LI 685), that prohibits anyone from hunting or being in possession of a pangolin, our results indicated that the use of pangolins for traditional medicinal purposes is widespread among traditional healers in Ghana. A study on the population status and ecology of the three species of African pangolins occurring in Ghana is urgently required in order to determine the impact this harvest for traditional medical purposes has on their respective populations as current levels appear to be unmonitored and unsustainable.

Monitoring the gestation period of rescued Formosan pangolin (Manis pentadactyla pentadactyla) with progesterone radioimmunoassay

Eight species of pangolin have been identified in the world. However, understanding of pangolin reproductive biology has been limited to fragmentary records. In this study, the concentration of serum progesterone in three pregnant and two nonpregnant rescued female Formosan pangolins (Manis pentadactyla pentadactyla) was monitored using a commercial progesterone radioimmunoassay kit. During gestation, the serum progesterone of pregnant pangolins A, B, and C remained at 28.5-55 ng/ml (n = 31 samples), 10.9-50.1 ng/ml (n = 34), and 12.4 and 33.5 ng/ml with a peak at 47.6 ng/ml (n = 19), respectively, whereas the serum progesterone of nonpregnant pangolins D and E remained at 1.99 ± 1.62 ng/ml (n = 80) and 2.27 ± 1.64 ng/ml (n = 27), respectively. From this study, it was found that female pangolin weighing as low as 2.14 kg was already capable of reproduction. For pregnant pangolins to give birth to viable offspring, their body weight must increase significantly, 63.89 and 134.0% in the study, from the time of inception or early pregnancy until parturition. In addition, study has found that both viable offspring were born fully developed and exceeded 80 g in weight. The period of gestation was found to be as short as 318 or longer than 372 days. Therefore, the Formosan pangolin should only be able to reproduce once a year. This study is the first insight into hormone assay for determining the gestation period of pangolin. Further investigations on the same subject are necessary to establish criteria for the recognition of reproductive status in pangolins.

Establishing the pangolin mitochondrial D-loop sequences from the confiscated scales

Pangolin scales are encountered in traditional East Asian medicines (TEAM) and the ever increasing demand for these scales has escalated the decline in the numbers of these mammals. The identification of protected pangolin species is necessary to enforce international and national legislation as well as assist with conservation measures. There is limited morphological feature on a pangolin scale thus requiring DNA analysis as a means of identification. We report on the isolation of DNA from pangolin scales and a strategy for obtaining the full length of the mitochondrial D-loop, being 1159 bp. Primer sets creating five overlapping amplicons were designed to amplify sections of this mitochondrial DNA locus. DNA from the blood stain of nineteen Formosan pangolins ( Manis pentadactyla pentadactyla) along with 145 scale samples that were suspected to have come from pangolins, was amplified and sequenced; leading to a total of 91 D-loop sequences being obtained. The 19 Formosan pangolin sequences produced 5 haplotypes and 72 of the 145 seized scales provided useable sequence classified as a further 38 haplotypes. The D-loop sequences from those scales suspected to be from a pangolin had a higher similarity to any of the 19 samples taken from M. p. pentadactyla compared to a D-loop sequence from Manis tetradactyla (the only pangolin D-loop sequence in GenBank, NC_004027). These 43 haplotypes were used to establish a local database for the D-loop sequence of pangolins and add to the data of Manis sp. held on GenBank. The PCR amplification strategy development in this study could be used in forensic DNA identification of scales suspected to be from protected pangolin species.

The Phylogeny of Living and Extinct Pangolins (Mammalia, Pholidota) and Associated Taxa: A Morphology Based Analysis

The present study was undertaken in order to effect a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the order Pholidota, examining seven of the eight currently recognized extant species (absent is Manis culionensis, formerly recognized as a subspecies of Manis javanica) and nearly all the well-known fossil taxa, and employing a wide range of osteological characters from the entire skeleton. In addition, the relationship of pangolins to several putative early Tertiary relatives, including palaeanodonts and the enigmatic “edentate” Eurotamandua joresi, were investigated. The goal of the study was to improve understanding of the systematics and the biogeographic and evolutionary history of the pangolins. A computer-based cladistic analysis of phylogenetic relationships among seven extant species of pangolins, five extinct pangolin species (including all but one of the well-preserved taxa), as well as Eurotamandua and two genera of metacheiromyid palaeanodonts, Palaeanodon and Metacheiromys, was performed based upon 395 osteological characteristics of the skull and postcranial skeleton. Characters were polarized via comparison to the following successive outgroups: the basal feliform carnivoran Nandinia binotata and the hedgehog Erinaceus sp., a eulipotyphlan laursiatherian placental. A revised classification is presented based on the results of the analysis. The results support the monophyly of Pholidota and Palaeanodonta by providing new anatomical characters that can serve to diagnose a pangolin/palaeanodont clade, termed here Pholidotamorpha. Pholidota is defined so as to include all living and fossil pangolins, including all three taxa of middle Eocene “edentates” from the Messel fauna of Germany, among them Eurotamandua joresi. The results do not support the monophyly of the remaining two Messel “edentates” originally placed in the same genus Eomanis, which is restricted to the type species Eomanis waldi. Euromanis, new genus, is named with Eomanis krebsi Storch and Martin, 1994, as the type species, to form a new combination Euromanis krebsi (Storch and Martin, 1994). The analysis strongly supports the monophyly of a crown clade of pangolins diagnosed by many anatomical synapomorphies, the family Manidae. This crown clade is sister to the family Patriomanidae, which includes two Tertiary taxa, Patriomanis americana and Cryptomanis gobiensis, within the superfamily Manoidea. The relationship of the Tertiary European pangolin Necromanis to these two families is unresolved. Within Manidae, the extant species are divided into three well-supported, monophyletic genera, Manis for the Asian pangolins, Smutsia for the African ground pangolins, and Phataginus for the African tree pangolins. The latter two form a monophyletic African assemblage, the subfamily Smutsiinae. The biogeographic implications of this phylogeny are examined. A European origin for Pholidota is strongly indicated. The fossil record of pangolins would seem to support a European origin for the modern forms, with subsequent dispersal into sub-Saharan African and then to southern Asia, and the phylogeny produced in this analysis is consistent with such a scenario.

Pangolins in peril: using local hunters’ knowledge to conserve elusive species in Vietnam

ABSTRACT: Pangolins are among the most valuable and widely traded taxa in the Southeast Asian illegal wildlife trade, yet little is known of their ecology and they are rarely reported in biodiversity surveys. Firstly, this study collated field and museum reports to produce the first distribution maps for the pangolins Manis pentadactyla and M. javanica in Vietnam. We also demonstrated that current biodiversity monitoring methods are rarely successful in recording pangolin presence and that most of the information about their distribution derives from the knowledge of local hunters. Secondly, semi-structured interviews with hunters revealed that the methods used to catch pangolins differed depending on species and site and suggest that the more terrestrial populations of M . pentadactyla are at greater risk from hunting than the more arboreal M. javanica. We highlight the value of applying local hunters’ knowledge to developing ecological study methods and conservation programmes for pangolin species in Southeast Asia.

Pangolins in peril: using local hunters’ knowledge to conserve elusive species in Vietnam

ESR Endangered Species Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials ESR 6:41-53 (2008) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00127 Pangolins in peril: using local hunters’ knowledge to conserve elusive species in Vietnam Peter Newton1,*, Nguyen Van Thai2, Scott Roberton2, Diana Bell1 1Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK 2Small Carnivore and Pangolin Conservation Program, Cuc Phuong National Park, PO Box 179, 6PO Ha Noi, Vietnam *Email: peter.newton@uea.ac.uk ABSTRACT: Pangolins are among the most valuable and widely traded taxa in the Southeast Asian illegal wildlife trade, yet little is known of their ecology and they are rarely reported in biodiversity surveys. Firstly, this study collated field and museum reports to produce the first distribution maps for the pangolins Manis pentadactyla and M. javanica in Vietnam. We also demonstrated that current biodiversity monitoring methods are rarely successful in recording pangolin presence and that most of the information about their distribution derives from the knowledge of local hunters. Secondly, semi-structured interviews with hunters revealed that the methods used to catch pangolins differed depending on species and site and suggest that the more terrestrial populations of M . pentadactyla are at greater risk from hunting than the more arboreal M. javanica. We highlight the value of applying local hunters’ knowledge to developing ecological study methods and conservation programmes for pangolin species in Southeast Asia. KEY WORDS: Pangolin · Wildlife trade · Conservation · Hunter · Interview · Vietnam Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Newton P, Nguyen TV, Roberton S, Bell D (2008) Pangolins in peril: using local hunters’ knowledge to conserve elusive species in Vietnam. Endang Species Res 6:41-53. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00127 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in ESR Vol. 6, No. 1. Online publication date: September 23, 2008 Print ISSN: 1863-5407; Online ISSN: 1613-4796 Copyright © 2008 Inter-Research.

A new genus and species of pangolin (Mammalia, Pholidota) from the late Eocene of Inner Mongolia, China

ABSTRACT A partial postcranial skeleton from the late Eocene of the Shara Murun region of northern China is described as a new genus and species of fossil pangolin, Cryptomanis gobiensis. Cryptomanis displays numerous diagnostic pangolin characteristics, including enrolled lumbar zygapophyses and fissured ungual phalanges. Like the anatomically similar North American Eocene pangolin Patriomanis, it retains primitive mammalian features such as a convex astragalar head and a prominent femoral third trochanter that are lost in extant pangolins. The systematic position of Cryptomanis within Pholidota is not unambiguously resolved. It is tentatively placed in the family Patriomanidae, which we restrict to Cryptomanis and the closely similar Patriomanis. Cryptomanis differs from modern pangolins in its more robust proximal limb elements, its lack of a greatly enlarged third manual digit, its slender tail, and its more elongate, grasping pedal digits. These traits suggest an animal well adapted for digging but with a tendency toward a semi-arboreal lifestyle. This new genus and species represents the oldest and most northerly Asian record of pangolins, and indicates that pangolins were widely distributed throughout Laurasia during the Eocene. It is consistent with a Laurasian origin for pangolins.

Chapter 10: The Edentulous Skull of the North American Pangolin, Patriomanis americanus

The previously unknown preorbital part of the skull of Patriomanis americanus shows that by the end of the Eocene, this North American pangolin was already like all extant pangolin species in being completely edentulous. The skull, like the postcranial skeleton, has defining pangolin characters imposed on a morphology that is otherwise quite generalized and primitive. The absence of teeth in Patriomanis reinforces its close relationship to living pangolins, but also means that some morphologic information that might have shed light on the question of pangolin origins is absent.

The Entotympanic of Pangolins and the Phylogeny of the Pholidota (Mammalia)

Entotympanics are independent elements present in the auditory bullae of various eutherians. An entotympanic has been reported for extant pangolins of the Order Pholidota, but the actual distribution of this element remains uncertain, in part, because it is a small, loosely attached structure that is often lost in macerated skulls. Consequently, it is unknown whether or not the entotympanic characterizes Pholidota primitively or has evolved within the group. This report addresses the morphology and distribution of the entotympanic among living and extinct pholidotans. An entotympanic occurs in the African pangolins Manis gigantea, M. temminckii, and in one specimen of M. tricuspis. In each, it is a small, nodular bone that occupies a distinct fossa primarily on the basioccipital, the presence of which allows us to assess the occurrence of an entotympanic even in specimens in which the bone has fallen out. Both the entotympanic and the basioccipital facet are lacking in the four remaining extant pangolin species and in the late Eocene pangolin Patriomanis. To assess the significance of this entotympanic distribution, a phylogenetic analysis of extant pangolins plus Patriomanis based on 67 cranial characters was performed. Four different outgroup analyses all resulted in the same single most parsimonious tree, in which the three extant Asian pangolins form a monophyletic clade and the four extant African pangolins fall into a paraphyletic assemblage. Optimization of the entotympanic distribution onto this tree results in two patterns, dependent on the outgroup choice. If Patriomanis is the sole outgroup to the extant pangolins, the entotympanic arises within pangolins as a synapomorphy of Manis gigantea and M. temminckii, convergently acquired in some M. tricuspis. If Xenarthra and Palaeanodonta are employed as outgroups, the entotympanic optimization is ambiguous: the pattern is either as above or the entotympanic is present primitively within Pholidota and lost secondarily in Patriomanis and a clade comprising M. tricuspis, M. tetradactyla, and the Asian forms.

Pangolins in south-west Nigeria - current status and prognosis : O. A. Sodeinde & S. R. Adedipe, Oryx, 28(1), 1994, pp 43–50

Despite being officially listed as endangered in Nigeria, pangolins are still hunted in Ogun State, where deforestation has fragmented and reduced their forest habitat. To investigate pangolin status in the state, the authors interviewed hunters, forest workers and market traders selling wild animals or their parts for medicinal use. The authors also counted pangolins stocked by market traders during weekly visits to markets in six towns/villages. Only one of Nigeria's three pangolin species, Manis tricuspis, was encountered frequently. Hunters' reports and evidence of forest destruction suggest that even this species is becoming rare. An estimate of extinction-susceptibility shows that pangolins are at fairly high risk. Creation of sanctuaries for pangolins and other important sympatric vertebrates in forest relicts in south-west Nigeria and the establishment of semicaptive pangolin populations are advocated.

Husbandry of pangolins Manis spp

There are seven species of pangolins in the Order Pholidota. To date there has been limited success in maintaining these animals in captivity and because of differences in size, behaviour and morphology it has been difficult to determine minimum husbandry requirements. Little is known about the biology of pangolins and there is a dearth of population information that can be used to evaluate their conservation status. This paper presents several general guidelines from some of the available published Information.

Pangolins in south-west Nigeria – current status and prognosis

Despite being officially listed as endangered in Nigeria, pangolins are still hunted in Ogun State, where deforestation has fragmented and reduced their forest habitat. To investigate pangolin status in the state, the authors interviewed hunters, forest workers and market traders selling wild animals or their parts for medicinal use. The authors also counted pangolins stocked by market traders during weekly visits to markets in six towns/villages. Only one of Nigeria's three pangolin species, Manis tricuspis, was encountered frequently. Hunters' reports and evidence of forest destruction suggest that even this species is becoming rare. An estimate of extinction-susceptibility shows that pangolins are at fairly high risk. Creation of sanctuaries for pangolins and other important sympatric vertebrates in forest relicts in south-west Nigeria and the establishment of semicaptive pangolin populations are advocated.

The Spider and the Pangolin

In the tarantism cult of southern Italy there are two types of actual tarantula spider with which the spirit spider might be identified, but only one is selected as spirit counterpart. In examining the basis of symbol selection here, reference is also made to Lele pangolin symbolism where there are again actually two species of local pangolin, only one of which is paid cult. Mary Douglas's classic analysis ofanimal 'anomalies' fails to address this problem. In the context ofa comparison ofpangolin ritualisation in other Congolese cultures, the following critique of Douglas's treatment of pangolin 'anomalies' suggests a cosmological solution to this puzzle. Douglas's attempt to correlate pangolin power with exogamy is also shown to be questionable. More generally, it is argued that where two or more related animals are subject to differential symbolisation a satisfactory interpretation should explain why one is selected for preferential ritual attention. I In her seminal essay on Lele religious symbolism, Mary Douglas (1957) rightly observed that, in order to be effective, symbols do not need to be grounded in objectively accurate knowledge and may indeed be based on mistaken information. So, in the case of animals selected to act as symbols, what matters is not actual animal behaviour but rather the characteristics and properties imputed to them by those who employ them as symbols. The famous tarantismo spider cult of southem Italy shows how this dictum may sometimes be applicable at one level while not applying at others. The tarantula spirit spider in Apulia (the region containing the eponymous town of Taranto) has potentially two types of actual tarantula spider (Latrodectus and Lycosa) with which it might be identified, but only one (Lycosa) is selected as the actual counterpart for the spirit. The spider (Latrodectus) which is passed over is, paradoxically, armed with a toxic bite capable of indeed causing the symptoms associated with tarantism. This situation of two similar zoological categories, only one of which receives ritual attention, has parallels in Lele animal symbolism (and is not unknown elsewhere). Douglas bases her famous analysis of the 'anomalous' pangolin on one type (Manis tricuspis) and rather passes over the other pangolin (Manis gigantea) which is also found among the Lele. As we shall see, this raises questions about the adequacy of her anomaly argument and invites further consideration of her data. More generally, where such pairs of related zoological avatars are subject to such differential symbolisation this offers a unique opportunity to test the validity of theories of symbolisation. A fully satisfactory interpretation should be able to explain the circumstances in which one of the pair is chosen at the expense of the other.

Hematological parameters of four Chinese pangolins (Manis pentadactyla)

AbstractHematological, differential, and blood chemistry values were determined in four Chinese pangolins (Manis pentadactyla), both at the time of their arrival and after more than 1 year in captivity. The data presented were derived from two samples obtained from each of four animals, and they provide a preliminary basis for comparison with clinical blood values from this and other pangolin species. No peculiar features were identified that distinguish this species from other mammals.

The Tongue and Associated Structures in Two Species of African Pangolins, Manis gigantea and Manis tricuspis

The tongue, together with its associated structures, was studied in two species of African pangolins, Manis gigantea and M. tricuspis. Observa- tions were made on living animals, and anatomical studies were made on seven adults. The tongue, 70 centimeters long in Manis gigantea and 30 centimeters long in M. tricuspis, is of similar morphology in the two species. It lies ventral to the larynx and trachea and occupies the thorax and abdomen just internal to the body waIl. A description is given of the mandible, hyoid, and sternum; the attachments of transverse and longitudinal tongue protrudor and retractor muscles; the histology of the tongue epithelium and lytta; the intrinsic muscle arrangements and the salivary glands. The structural features are related to the specialized pangolin mode of food gathering, and compared with similar arrangements present in other mammals which feed on a diet requiring little or no mastication. African pangolins exhibit many interesting anatomical specializations. The forelimbs are pronograde and well adapted for tearing apart termite nests; the dorsal and lateral body hair is modified to form scale-like plaques; the tail is extremely muscular, contains a large complex retia mirabilia, and in the arboreal species possesses a terminal caudal sensory pad containing many Pacinian corpuscles. Such morphological adaptations and those of the tongue and jaws are specializations to a particular diet and mode of life, namely, anteating. Accounts of the tongue and associated structures in the Pholidota are con- fined to brief, and not wholly consistent reports. Cuvier (1845), Weber (1894), and Beddard (1909) described various aspects of pangolin anatomy, but only mentioned the tongue in passing. The anatomy of the taste organs of the tongue has been described in detail (Bronn, 1874; Tuckerman, 1890; Sonntag, 1923; Kubota et al., 1962). Our study is the first to consider in detail the structure, myology, nerve supply, and function of the tongue in the Pholidota.