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13 December 2006 The Mammals of Mt. Kitanglad Nature Park, Mindanao, Philippines
Lawrence R. Heaney, Blas R. Tabaranza Jr., Eric A. Rickart, Danilo S. Balete, Nina R. Ingle
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Abstract

Field surveys within and adjacent to the Mt. Kitanglad Nature Park in the Kitanglad Range of Bukidnon Province, north-central Mindanao, from 1992 to 1999, along with examination of previously existing specimens, have allowed us to document the local presence of 58 species of mammals, 53 native and five non-native. These include one gymnure (Erinaceidae), two shrews (Soricidae), one tree shrew (Tupaiidae), one flying lemur (Cynocephalidae), 14 fruit bats (Pteropodidae), eight roundleaf and horseshoe bats (Rhinolophidae), nine evening bats (Vespertilionidae), one mastiff bat (Molossidae), two primates (Tarsiidae and Cercopithecidae), three squirrels (Sciuridae), 14 mice and rats (Muridae), two civets (Viverridae), one pig (Suidae), and one deer (Cervidae). Mt. Kitanglad Nature Park has one of the most diverse mammal faunas in the Philippines, exceeding that of the more widely known Mt. Apo. Three species, a bat (Alionycteris paucidentata) and two native mice (Crunomys suncoides and Limnomys bryophilus), are currently known only from high elevations in the Kitanglad Range. Species richness of bats declined with increasing elevation, but richness of non-volant small mammals increased five-fold from lowlands to a peak at ca. 2250 m, and then declined with further increases in elevation. We found distinctive mammal communities in lowland rainforest (up to about 1200 m elevation), montane rainforest (ca. 1200 m to 1900 m), and mossy rainforest (2000 m to the peak at 2950 m). We conclude that all three rainforest types, at all elevations, are important to the success of the park as a biological reserve. Over-hunting of large mammals and illegal logging both pose serious problems. Lowland rainforest has been removed on much of Mindanao, including the vicinity of the park, and thus is the habitat type that is currently most threatened. Habitat destruction, especially of lowland rainforest, threatens the mammals in the Kitanglad Range as well as the economic and social stability of the human population of northern Mindanao.

Lawrence R. Heaney, Blas R. Tabaranza Jr., Eric A. Rickart, Danilo S. Balete, and Nina R. Ingle "The Mammals of Mt. Kitanglad Nature Park, Mindanao, Philippines," Fieldiana Zoology 2006(112), 1-63, (13 December 2006). https://doi.org/10.3158/0015-0754(2006)186[1:TMOMKN]2.0.CO;2
Published: 13 December 2006
JOURNAL ARTICLE
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