Tag Archives: Timor

Cyrtodactylus celatus Kathriner, Bauer, O’shea, Sanchez, & Kaiser

Hidden Bent-toed Gecko (Cyrtodactylus celatus)

The Hidden Bent-toed Gecko was described in 2014 on the basis of a single female specimen that was found in 1924 in the village of Tjamplong in West Timor, Indonesia. 

The species reached a size of about 7.6 cm (including the tail); it can be distinguished from congeneric species from the same general geographical region by its smaller size and by a variety of pholidotic characteristics.

When the species was described, its type locality was described as a woodland with numerous small streams; unfortunately, the same region today is a barren habitat in which the native forest appears to have been removed and replaced by rice paddies and human habitations. [1]

Hidden Bent-toed Gecko is now most likely extinct.

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References:

[1] Andrew Kathriner; Aaron M. Bauer; Mark O’Shea; Caitlin Sanchez; Hinrich Kaiser: Hiding in plain sight: a new species of bent-toed gecko (Squamata: Gekkonidae: Cyrtodactylus) from West Timor, collected by Malcolm Smith in 1924. Zootaxa 3900(4): 555-568. 2014

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edited: 15.02.2024

Turnix sp. ‘Timor’

Timor Buttonquail (Turnix sp.)

This bird is known from several subfossil bones that were found during excavations on the island of Timor, Indonesia; it occurred on that island sympatrically with another buttonquail species, the Red-backed Buttonquail (Turnix maculosus (Temminck)) which is native to parts of Asia as well as Australia.

The remains were dated to an age of about 1372 to 1300 BP. 

The Timor Buttonquail was larger than the other species and probably was endemic to the island or at least to the region, it is now clearly extinct. [1]

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References:

[1] Hanneke J. M. Meijer; Julien Louys; Sue O’Connor: First record of avian extinctions from the Late Pleistocene and Holocene of Timor Leste. Quaternary Science Reviews 203: 170-184. 2019

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edited: 03.10.2020

Melomys sp. ‘Timor, small species’

Small Timor Melomys (Melomys sp.)

This up to now unnamed mouse species is known from subfossil remains that were recovered, together with the remains of a second congeneric but larger species, from cave deposits on the island of Timor.

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References:

[1] Ian Glover: Archaeology in eastern Timor, 1966-67. Department of Prehistory, Australian Naitonal Univ 1986
[2] Samuel T. Turvey: Holocene Extinctions. Oxford University Press, USA 2009

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edited: 07.05.2019