Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei

For your reports/images, made outside Europe and the "Mediterranean" countries. Not to be too narrow minded and limited to our European/Mediterranean herps.

Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei

Postby Michal Szkudlarek » Tue Sep 18, 2018 9:40 pm

day 1- Singapore
I arrived to Singapore at 4am and met Law Ing Sind at Windsor Park. Singapore is a very safe and English speaking insular city-state and home to many nice people of many religions and backgrounds. My intention was to spend whole day exploring this beautiful city-state. The herping started with me and Sind hearing mating calls of common asian toads because it was raining the previous day. But the first herp to see was a copper cheeked frog (Hylarana raniceps). It is one of the most common tree frog species. They can be either brown or green- members of this species can can change their colouration thorought time of a day.
Image

Image

their habitat
Image

Then Sind spotted Occidozyga sumatrana- it was really small.
Image

Nearby there was another copper cheeked frog.
Image

Then we spotted 2 species of Draco lizards- they are known for their ability to glide. Draco sumatranus can be distinguished from Draco melanopogon because the latter species has dorsal colour more like greenish moss as opposed to dorsal colour of a lichen in the former.

Draco melanopogon melanopogon
Image

Image

Image

this one has no leg
Image

Image

In the reserve there were quite many streams and in one of them, in a place where water was not flowing fast, Sind showed me tadpoles of copper cheeked frog.
Image

Limnonectes malesianus, of Discoglossidae family. Lifer!
Image

We have not found any softshell turtle but Sind found Heosemys annandalii that was walking in a shallow stream. This species has only been observed in Singapore once before.
Image

Then I went to Sungei Bulog via Grab (equivalent of an Uber) hoping to see my first wild crocodile. The wildlife reserve is in a remote place and you can see Johor (Malaysia) on the other bank. When I entered the visitor centre I noticed a skink- I thought it was just a juvenile of a common sun skink (Eutropis multifasciata), the species we saw in central catchment nature reserve that I did not take photo of, but Sind said it is Lygosoma bowringii.
Image

Don't release alien turtles or frogs!
Image

Yes, Trachemys scripta elegans is even in Singapore, fortunately monitor lizards eat their eggs. As to frogs- Chinese edible frogs (Hoplobatrachus rugulosus) are sometimes being released because they are being imported to Singapore as food.

Don't feed crocs! PS. De iure feeding of any animal is illegal in Singapore.
Image

It was not a suprise for me to find Varanus salvator macromaculatus in that reserve, after all this species likes water.
Image

Image

spot a monitor lizard!
Image

I tried hard to find a croc but instead I found Paradise Flying Snake (Chrysopelea paradisi paradisi).

Image

Image

Image

It was found in a tree next to a pond where croc was supposed to be.
Image

In Sungei Buloh I also found Hemidactylus frenatus and Hemidactylus platyurus. They are common.

Image
Hemidactylus frenatus


Image
Hemidactylus platyurus

They were found here- under the roof.
Image

Just next to visitor center in a bush I noticed squirels so I took a closer look and found Ahaetulla prasina prasina.
Image

Image

Image

Image
User avatar
Michal Szkudlarek
 
Posts: 1118
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2011 12:09 pm
Location: Poland
Hometown: ...
country: Poland

first day in Kuching

Postby Michal Szkudlarek » Wed Sep 19, 2018 11:40 pm

First day in Kuching.
I woke up in a galaxy pod and we set off to airport via MRT. After few hours we were in Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak (Borneo, Malaysia). I visited few tourist sites but also a gurudwara. Both before and after sunset in the city center of Kuching Hemidactylus geckos could be found on walls.

Hemidactylus platyurus
Image


Hemidactylus frenatus/
Image

TO BE CONTINUED
User avatar
Michal Szkudlarek
 
Posts: 1118
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2011 12:09 pm
Location: Poland
Hometown: ...
country: Poland

Re: Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei

Postby Gerald Ochsenhofer » Thu Sep 20, 2018 7:43 pm

Cool findings! Looking foward for the next parts!
sporadic news -> http://thxalot.net/v2/
Gerald Ochsenhofer
Moderator
 
Posts: 211
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2009 7:08 pm
Hometown: Vienna
country: Austria

Re: Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei

Postby Jeroen Speybroeck » Fri Sep 21, 2018 6:05 pm

How I long for Chrysopelea... Good job!
Jeroen Speybroeck
Site Admin
 
Posts: 3161
Joined: Wed Nov 18, 2009 10:18 am
Hometown: Merelbeke
country: Belgium

Second day in Kuching

Postby Michal Szkudlarek » Sun Sep 23, 2018 9:06 pm

Second day in Kuching.
We were taken to Semenggoh nature reserve to have a chance to see wild Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus. They gather twice a day in certain place to get food from employees of this reserve and in this way tourists can see wild orangutans. In that place they had a Saltwater crocodile- Crocodylus porosus in cage.
Image

After having luck and being able to take photos of orangutans, I was returning from the place where we saw them and spoted male Tropidolaemus subannulatus.
Image

the habitat
Image

Then we were taken to some caves south of Kuching and in a bush, next to one of them I found Orthriophis taeniurus grabowskyi.
Image

Image

Image

Near entrance to another cave, in leaf litter I found Euthropis multifasciata and Euthropis rudis, they were close to each other.
ImageEuthropis rudis

ImageEuthropis multifasciata

their habitat
Image

Near entrance to yet another cave, in a tree, Hemidactylus platyurus was found.

After caves we visited a lake and in bark of one of trees I noticed Dasia vittata.
Image

the habitat
Image

It was Ghost Festival that day so after the trip I visited some Chinese temples to get to know their customs. In one of temples I found many sweetwater turtles. They have probably ended up there because according to traditional Chinese beliefs if one releases an animal, one will get good luck in return.

Image

ImageTrachemys scripta elegans

ImageCuora amboinensis kamaroma

ImageCyclemys dentata

ImageCyclemys dentata

After that I went to a park where I found only Trachemys scripta elegans and juvenile climbing Varanus salvator macromatulatus.
Image

[url=https://flic.kr/p/P2ZnuA]Image
User avatar
Michal Szkudlarek
 
Posts: 1118
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2011 12:09 pm
Location: Poland
Hometown: ...
country: Poland

Re: Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei

Postby Ray Hamilton » Mon Sep 24, 2018 10:56 am

Hi Michal,

Glad to see you are getting some great sightings out in Asia. Really liked the two shots of the flying snake peering through the foliage.

Looking forwards to the next part of your report.

Ray
Ray Hamilton
 
Posts: 149
Joined: Tue Nov 08, 2011 6:43 pm
Hometown: Bournemouth
country: England

Re: Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei

Postby Bobby Bok » Mon Oct 01, 2018 5:47 pm

Cool finds Michal, love the in-situ flying snake!
User avatar
Bobby Bok
 
Posts: 954
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 7:11 pm
Hometown: Heemskerk
country: Netherlands

Re: Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei

Postby Michal Szkudlarek » Mon Oct 08, 2018 2:44 pm

A day in Kubah.
The first herptiles in Kubah to see by me were skinks runing near ticket office and hostel. I was accommodated in that hostel and found such a poster.
Image

ImageEutropis rudis

Then I set off to Frog Pond and when going uphill in left side of road I found water body with vocalizing frogs- Hylarana raniceps and a skink which panicked and hid in water and then climbed out of it when i backed down a bit.

ImageHylarana raniceps

These two seemed to be males, one of them tried doing amplexus at another and got short "don't touch me I'm male" vocalization in return. Sorry I forgot how this specific type of call is called in professional literature. :p
ImageHylarana raniceps

ImageTropidophorus brookei

ImageTropidophorus brookei

ImageTropidophorus brookei

ImageTropidophorus brookei

Spot a skink! :)
ImageTropidophorus brookei

The frog pond was much more shallow than I expected and by day I have not found there anything.
Image

This is where I found my 1st Cnemaspis kendallii. This species is to be found near rocks or trunks.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2a74nBo]Image


Some time later, near a waterfall I found Eutropis rudis.
Image

It soon caught a prey.
Image

Image

Not far away from that place there was a waterfall with many wasps in air and tadpoles in water (puddles and stream).
Image

I think they are Meristogenys spp..
Image

Such tadpoles like that one you see below were sort of grazing in very shallow flowing water like you see in that photo. When you approached them, they were running away to deeper water. Unfortunately they were being killed by feet of tourists who were not even aware about their presence.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2as7qZE]Image


If you can ID them more accurately please let me know.
Image

Image

Staurois guttatus was also found there, it was about 5cm long so it is probably a female
Image

Image

When returning from waterfall I found adult Limnonectes conspicillatus in a hole with water in a tree.
Image

Image

the habitat
Image

In a ticket office there was a flag of Malaysia and many geckos around.
Image

After sunset I visited the frog pond and found:

metamorphosing Rhacophorus pardalis
Image

Image

Image

Chalcorana megalonese, similar to Chalcorana raniceps but bigger
Image

Polypedates otilophus, tadpole
Image

adult
Image

Polypedates macrotis
Image

Image

Polypedates cf. macrotis
Image

Polypedates leucomystax
Image[

Image

Limnonectes palavanensis
Image

Image

Limnonectes leporinus
Image

Rhacophorus pardalis
Image

Image

Image
User avatar
Michal Szkudlarek
 
Posts: 1118
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2011 12:09 pm
Location: Poland
Hometown: ...
country: Poland

Re: Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei

Postby Michal Szkudlarek » Mon Oct 08, 2018 5:39 pm

Third day in Kuching.
I went to defunct fountain again but this time with external flash to take better photos of tadpoles of Polypedates leucomystax , below you can see results.
Image

Image

the habitat
Image

I also managed to spot Fejervarya cancrivora near Astana Negeri Sarawak.
Image
This species is known to tolerate sea water.
User avatar
Michal Szkudlarek
 
Posts: 1118
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2011 12:09 pm
Location: Poland
Hometown: ...
country: Poland

First day in Bako

Postby Michal Szkudlarek » Sat Oct 13, 2018 7:31 pm

The next day we set off to Bako National Park which is famous for being home to wild proboscis monkeys. In the boat terminal warnings about crocodiles could be found.
Image

Image

Unfortunately no wild corcs were found by me. :(
Having arrived to the national park I quickly spotted quite many Emoia atrocostata astrocostata in coastal rocks.
Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

their habitat
Image

We started to explore surroundings further. My friend found an adult female of Tropidolaemus subannulatus resting in a place where tourists waited for boats so a guy working as a park ranger for fear of a tourist being attacked used two long sticks to transport the snake to more wild place.
Image

the habitat
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2c7CCDn]Image


Her body is taller than wider.
Image

Image

Image

I spent 2 days in Bako and she was all these 2 days in that place where she was moved to.
Image

In the tourist centre you could see such posters:
Image

Image

Image

Image

When wandering I found an asian water monitor lizard just next to mangroves and a Tropidophorus brookei in a stream. After sunset we had arranged night jungle walk and found Hemidactylus frenatus
Image

probably rough-sided frog
Image

Cyrtodactylus pubisulcus
Image

Image

Polypedates colleti
Image

Chalcorana raniceps
Image

Pulchrana baramica
Image

Image

adult male of Tropidolaemus subannulatus
Image
User avatar
Michal Szkudlarek
 
Posts: 1118
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2011 12:09 pm
Location: Poland
Hometown: ...
country: Poland

Next

Return to Herping in the rest of the world

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 16 guests