Tag Archives: Java

Rhododendron wilhelminae Hochr.

Wilhelmina’s Rhododendron (Rhododendron wilhelminae)

Wilhelmina’s Rhododendron, described in 1925, is known from only a single locality in the vicinity of the crater of Mt. Salak in the Gunung Halimun Salak National Park on the island of Java, Indonesia, where it was found growing amongst other shrubs at an elevation of about 1350 m.

The taxon was not found since its description and may be extinct now.

However, it may, however, not be a real species but instead a natural hybrid of the Javan Rhododendron (Rhododendron javanicum (Blume) Benn.) and the Malayan Rhododendron (Rhododendron malayanum Jack) (see photo below), which obviously both grow at the same locality.

*********************

Malayan Rhododendron (Rhododendron malyanum)

Photo: Dick Culbert
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.de

*********************

edited: 19.02.2023

Sulcospira pisum (Brot)

Pea-shaped Sulcospira Snail (Sulcospira pisum)

The Pea-shaped Sulcospira Snail was described in 1868, it was endemic to the island of Java, Indonesia, an exact locality, however, is not known.

The shells reached sizes of about 1,4 cm in height, they are dark chestnut or olive-brown, sometimes with darker vertical flames, their apex is always truncated with less than three remaining whorls and sculptured only with growth lines. [1]

***

syn. Balanocochlis gland (Brot), Balanocochlis pisum (Brot), Melania pisum Brot

*********************

References:

[1] Ristiyanti M. Marwoto; Nur R. Isnaningsih: The freshwater snail genus Sulcospira Troschel, 1857 from Java, with description of a new species from Tasikmalaya, west Java, Indonesia (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Pachychilidae). The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 60(1): 1-10. 2012

*********************

edited: 02.05.2019

Meandrusa payeni ssp. payeni (Boisduval)

Yellow Gorgon (Meandrusa payeni ssp. payeni)

The Yellow Gorgon can be spilt into about six subspecies, which occur from parts of China and India to Indonesia.

The species itself seems not to be threatened yet, however, the nominate form, which was restricted to the island of Java, Indonesia, appears to be extinct now.

***

The photo below shows another subspecies.
***

syn. Papilio payeni ssp. payeni Boisduval

*********************

Indian Yellow Gorgon (Meandrusa payeni ssp. evan (Doubleday))

Photo: Tamagha Sengupta 
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

*********************

edited: 17.11.2021

Papilio lampsacus Boisduval

Javan Swallowtail (Papilio lampsacus)

The Javan Swallowtail was described in 1836; it is restricted to the island of Java in Indonesia.

The species is not well known and is believed to be extinct; pinned specimens are still found in the trade and are sold at very high prices.

*********************

Photo: Denver Museum of Nature & Science
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

*********************

edited: 15.01.2024

Sulcospira sulcospira (Mousson)

Sulcospira Snail (Sulcospira sulcospira)

This species was described in 1849, it was endemic to the island of Java, Indonesia, an exact locality, however, appears to be unknown.

The shells reach sizes of about 2,3 cm in heigth, they are yellowish to olive with brown vertical flames and are sculptured with spiral lirae that are more prominent at the base of the body whorl. [1][2]

*********************

References:

[1] Frank Kühler; Matthias Glaubrecht: Fallen into oblivion – the systematic affinities of the enigmatic Sulcospira Troschel, 1858 (Cerithioidea: Pachychilidae), a genus of viviparous freshwater gastropods from Java. The Nautilus 119: 15-26. 2005
[2] Ristiyanti M. Marwoto; Nur R. Isnaningsih: The freshwater snail genus Sulcospira Troschel, 1857 from Java, with description of a new species from Tasikmalaya, west Java, Indonesia (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Pachychilidae). The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 60(1): 1-10. 2012

*********************

Photo from: ‘Frank Kühler; Matthias Glaubrecht: Fallen into oblivion – the systematic affinities of the enigmatic Sulcospira Troschel, 1858 (Cerithioidea: Pachychilidae), a genus of viviparous freshwater gastropods from Java. The Nautilus 119: 15-26. 2005’

(under creative commons license (3.0))
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

*********************

edited: 02.05.2019

Sulcospira martini (Schepman)

Martin’s Sulcospira Snail (Sulcospira martini)

Martin’s Sulcospira Snail was described in 1898, it was apparently collected near Malangbon, a village (or now city) in central Java, Indonesia. [1]

The presumed type locality is now almost completely converted into rice fields, and the species, having not found since, is most likely extinct. 

*********************

References:

[1] Frank Kühler; Matthias Glaubrecht: Fallen into oblivion – the systematic affinities of the enigmatic Sulcospira Troschel, 1858 (Cerithioidea: Pachychilidae), a genus of viviparous freshwater gastropods from Java. The Nautilus 119: 15-26. 2005

*********************

edited: 02.05.2019

Phoebe chartacea (Blume) Miq.

Chartaceous Phoebe Tree (Phoebe chartacea)

This species was described in 1855, it is restricted to the island of Java in Indonesia.

The species’ name appears in lists of extinct species (as Dehaasia chartacea (Blume) Kosterm.) and is thus also briefly mentioned here.

*********************

edited: 15.05.2021

Vanellus macropterus (Wagler)

Javan Lapwing (Vanellus macropterus)

The Javan Lapwing was a beautiful, up to 28 cm large bird that inhabited the island of Java, Indonesia; it may also have occurred on Sumatra and other islands, but that is not known for sure.

The birds claimed relatively large territories in regions with rather dry, steppe-like vegetation, which they inhabited as pairs. 

The last individuals were seen in 1939, since that date there has not been the slightest trace of the species and it appears to be extinct. [1]

*********************  

References:  

[1] Errol Fuller: Extinct Birds. Penguin Books (England) 1987  

*********************

Depiction from: ‘C. J. Temminck: Nouveau recueil de planches coloriées d’oiseaux: pour servir de suite et de complément aux planches enluminées de Buffon, édition in-folio et in-4° de l’Imprimerie royale, 1770. A Strasbourgh; Chez Legras Imbert et Comp., 1838’

(public domain)

*********************

edited: 04.10.2020

Elephas maximus ssp. ‘Java’

Java Elephant (Elephas maximus ssp.)  

Elephants are probably among the best known animals, animals that in the general public may possibly not be mistaken for something else – yet in a scientifically sense elephants are quite uninvestigated and many questions remain open.  

One of these questions is how many subspecies actually exist.  

***

Asian elephants inhabit the Indian subcontinent, the islands of Sri Lanka, Sumatra, and Borneo, each place is inhabited by an endemic subspecies respectively. The species was much more widespread in the past.  

The animals are still occasionally kept in captivity as work elephants, even more so in the past, thus many ‘wild’ elephant populations, living or extinct, may in fact just represent feral populations.  

The extinct elephant population from the island of Java obviously was a native one, since elephants are known to have lived on the island at least since the last interglacial.  

***

Like in other places in Asia also the Javan Elephants were occasionally kept in captivity, whence they were shipped from place to place across the islands in the Sulu sea many hundreds of years ago, usually as much-valued gifts between rulers. In about 1395 for example, the Raja of Java gave two elephants to the Raja of the Sultanate of Sulu (this Sultanate comprised parts of Mindanao and Palawan, Philippines as well as north-eastern Borneo). Some of the descendants of these elephants were subsequently released on the island of Borneo.  

The wild Javan elephant population died out soon after, but their descendants obviously survive on the island of Borneo, at least genetically imbedded within the endemic Bornean Elephant population, which was described as a distinct subspecies (Elephas maximus ssp. borneensis P. E. P. Deraniyagala) in 1950. [1]  

***

The Java Elephant was once described as Elephas maximus ssp. sondaicus P. E. P. Deraniyagala on the basis of an illustration of a carving on Borabudur, a 9th-century Mahayana Buddhist temple in Magelang, Central Java, this name, however, seems to be invalid. Nevertheless the native Javan Elephant population appears to have been distinct from the other populations and most probably represented an now extinct endemic subspecies.  

The youngest Java Elephant remains can be dated to about 1350. [1]  

****

The island of Java obviously harbored another elephant species, which was described in 1908 as Elephas hysudrindicus Dubois, it is known from the Pleistocene and should not be mistaken for the recently extinct Javan Elephant.  

*********************  

References:  

[1] Earl of Cranbrook; J. Payne; Charles M. U. Leh: Origin of the elephants Elephas maximus L. of Borneo. Sarawak Museum Journal 2008

*********************

edited: 21.01.2020