First Survey Of The Herpetofauna Of Tasik Sulaman Forest Reserve And Nearby Areas, Sabah

Abstract

The Tasik Sulaman Forest Reserve (TSFR) is in Tuaran District along the northwest coast of Sabah, East Malaysia. The habitat is composed largely of coastal forest and mangroves that support numerous intertidal species such as congregating fireflies. Further inland, towards the base of Mount Kinabalu, there are many waterfalls within lowland rainforest habitat. Over the course of four nights, 18 frog species, 12 lizard species, six snake species and one crocodilian were recorded. The predominant frog family recorded was Ranidae (five species), while for the lizards it was Gekkonidae (seven species), and for the snakes it was Colubridae (three species). Given the expanse of the area covered, the composition of the species recorded in this study is a mixture of forest-dwelling species and generalist that are adapted to more anthropogenically altered habitats. This study is the first to document the herpetofauna found in TSFR in detail and resulted in the first record of the Dark-sided Chorus Frog (Microhyla heymonsi) in Borneo. The records gathered during this study will not only be important for the conservation of species in the area but also contribute valuable data for the proposed expansion of the Kinabalu UNESCO Global Geopark to encompass TSFR.