A Synopsis of the Mammalian Fauna of the Philippine Islands Lawrence R. Heaney and Collaborators Abstract The mammalian fauna of the Philippine Islands is now known to include 201 species: 22 are marine mammals, 172 are native terrestrial mammals, and 7 are introduced, non-native species that occur in the wild. With 1 1 1 (64%) of the terrestrial native species as endemics, the archipelago has one of the highest per-area levels of endemism in the world, on the basis of both absolute numbers and percentage. Since the last checklist was published, in 1987, 16 new species have been discovered — currently one of the highest rates of discovery in the world (Morell, 1996); 14 of the species listed here are not yet formally described. For each species, we provide the citation for the original description (except when the species has yet to be formally described), the English common name, the documented distribution, a summary of habitat data, and an assessment of conservation status. At least 52 native species are threatened (many seriously endangered) as a result of destruction of forest habitats, over-hunting, and destruction of cave and marine ecosystems. Further basic research and implementation of ef-fective habitat protection programs, especially for the forests, are essential to protect this re-markably diverse and endangered fauna. Introduction The mammalian fauna of the Philippine Islands is remarkably diverse and species rich. As docu-mented in this study, the terrestrial fauna is now known to include 172 native species (plus 7 in-troduced species, most of which are widespread in the country), which is one of the highest levels of diversity on a per-area basis in the world. An additional 22 species of marine mammals have also been recorded. Moreover, most of the species are found nowhere else: of the 172 terrestrial spe-cies, 1 1 1 (64%) are endemic. As noted by Cole et al. (1994) in their review of global patterns of mammalian diversity, only Madagascar has a higher percentage of unique species. However, only about 80 of the 100 mammal species on Madagascar are endemic, and Madagascar has twice the land area of the Philippines (Heaney, 1993). Although no comprehensive analysis has yet been done, we believe that the Philippines have the highest level of endemic mammalian species richness of any country on a per-unit-area basis. These species include some of the most spec-tacular radiations of mammals. The murid rodent fauna of Luzon has long been considered to be one of the most remarkable assemblages of mam-mals (Thomas, 1898). To name only a few, there exist giant arboreal animals with long, lush coats of shiny black fur (Oliver et al., 1993); excep-tionally long-snouted, hopping rodents that feed principally on earthworms in mossy forest (Rick-art et al., 1991); tiny brown mice that dig through leaf litter in their search for insects (Rickart et al., 1991); and beautiful mice with large dark eyes, pure white bellies, and auburn heads and backs that scamper along forest floor and through tree-tops (Balete & Heaney, in press). It is not sur-prising that these creatures have generated great interest over the century since biologists first learned of their existence from the native peoples of the Central Cordillera of Luzon. The Philippines also are exceptional in a sec-ond sense. As we report here, recent field work FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, N.S., NO. 88, JUNE 30, 1998, PP. 1-61
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