THE HERPETOFAUNA OF EAST MALAYSIA
The herpetofauna of the tropical island of Borneo, comprising the East Malaysian States of Sabah and Sarawak, together with Brunei Darussalam and the provinces of Kalimantan, Indonesia, comprises 225 species of amphibians and 320 species of reptiles. These figures include invasive species from both groups: three amphibian species and six reptile species.
This presentation summarises the current understanding of herpetofauna in East Malaysia Borneo from the states of Sabah and Sarawak. Growing studies into the amphibians and reptiles of the two states have discovered many new species in recent decades and broadened the understanding of the biogeography of the herpetofauna on the island. Many unique and ecologically diverse forms have evolved the multitude of niches in different ecosystems. Nevertheless, many of the endemics are increasing threatened habitat destruction, climate change, natural disasters, invasive species and anthropogenic pressures like hunting. Thus, a concerted effort is needed to safeguard and conserve the herpetofauna of Borneo for future generations.
PROF. DR. INDRANEIL DAS
Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation (IBEC) Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
Prof. Dr. Indraneil Das is an expert in the reptiles of south and south-east Asia. Indraneil studied at the Universities of Calcutta and Oxford, receiving PhD in Zoology in 1991. He was a Fulbright Fellow at Harvard University, and a Research Fellow at Universiti Brunei Darussalam. At present, he is a Professor at the Universiti Malaysia Sarawak.
ASSOC. PROF. DR. EVAN QUAH SENG HUAT
Institute for Tropical Biodiversity and Conservation, Universiti Kebangsaan Sabah
Dr. Evan Quah is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah. His expertise is in the field of herpetology and he studies amphibians and reptiles in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. It has been over a decade that he has been involved in this field, and his research interest is in the taxonomy, diversity, speciation and phylogeography of herpetofauna in this region. Among the ecosystems that he and his team take special interest in are montane and karst ecosystems that harbour high levels of endemism among their amphibians and reptiles. Apart from working locally in Malaysia, he also collaborates on research projects and conduct field work in neighbouring countries in the surrounding region such as China, Singapore, Cambodia and Myanmar. Together with his colleagues, they have discovered more than 50 species of amphibians and reptiles that were new to science around the region. He also serves as an associate editor for three international journals; the Raf/es Bulletin of Zoology (since 2016), Zootaxa (since 2019) and Herpetological Conservation and Biology (since 2024). He is also one of the recipients of the inaugural Tony Whitten Conservation Prize in 2019 in recognition for his research and conservation work in karst ecosystems in Myanmar.