Borneo of Kutai

The high diversity and endemicity of mammals is related to the many niches found in the tropical rain forest of Borneo and past Pleistocene events within the Sundaland region. During interglacial and post-glacial periods, there was migration of animal from the Asian mainland into Borneo and into Sulawesi via the Philippines. Due to lack of favourable habitats and small founder population, some species of animals have become extinct and others have radiated into endemic species. For example, in Holocene times, ancient anteater (Manis palaeojavanica), panther (Panthera sp) and tapir (Tapirus indicus) became locally extinct in Borneo. Of the 57 mammal species that were identified from archaeological remains in the Niah Caves, Sarawak, 13 were bats. Four of these were megachiropterans, Pteropus vampyrus, Rousettus amplexicaudatus, Rousettus sp and Eonycteris spelaea, all of which remain extant species in Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia. The provisional list of mammals of Borneo (sensu Lord Medway, Payne et al., Corbet and Hill, Koopman, and Wilson and Reeder) are listed in the table below. There are various conflicts in the taxonomic lists by previous authors which need further field research for validation.