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The recorded fauna of the limestone caves of Thailand to April 2018
Abstract
The 470 species of fauna that have been recorded from limestone caves in Thailand to 7 April 2018 are catalogued. Details of the caves, where a specific taxa has been recorded, are given and geographical errors in the original taxa descriptions are corrected. For the 209 new taxa, where the holotype was collected from a cave, the specimen collection data and repository are listed. A summary table of the fauna is also given.
... The current report on the fauna in Thai limestone caves (Ellis 2020) contains the remarkable number of 570 species from 590 limestone caves in 42 provinces. For amphibians, Ellis (2020) again lists eight species (families Bufonidae, Ranidae and Microhylidae) and further names 40 reptile species (two Testudines: Geoemydidae, Testudinidae; 38 Squamata: Sauria: one species each of Agamidae and Varanidae, 22 species Gekkonidae, two skinks (Scincidae); Serpentes: one species each of Cylindrophiidae, Elapidae, Viperidae, two species Pythonidae and seven species of Colubridae. is more of a descent than an entrance, because from there the path leads directly downwards, where it continues over a rock tongue into the depths. ...
... At the same time, they show the necessity to continue studying Don Din. The seven species listed by Ellis (2020) have become a total of 19 species as a result of our findings (Tab. 1). ...
... The fact that we did not encounter any geckos during our explorations in the Tham Don Din is astonishing. The genus Cyrtodactylus alone is represented by numerous species in caves (Ellis & Pauwels 2012), and with 22 species, geckos form the strongest group of squamata found in Thai caves (Ellis 2020). Directly on the outside of the rock face and very close to the cave entrance, we were able to detect Cnemaspis biocellata (Fig. 11) in 1985 and a young, unusually coloured Gekko gecko a little further away in 1986 (Fig. 12). ...
Supplementary information on the fauna of the Don Din karst cave, with notes on the geckofauna of Thale Ban National Park in Satun, southern Thailand.
It reports on the animal species found in Don Din Cave in southern Thailand in 1985 and 1986. A list of gecko species found in Thale Ban National Park follows.
... The species is known to roost in limestone caves and forages in (sub) tropical moist forest habitats (Francis 2019, Ellis 2020. It is known to inhabit the lowlands (80m amsl) as the highlands (1,790 m amsl) (Ellis 2020). ...
A vast expanse of limestone karst lies in western Thailand, covering 12,000km². Very few speleologists had ventured there before and nothing was known of the caves. This project spent 30 months and 2.5 million Baht to rectify this. Some 56 new caves were explored and surveyed and the data gained was used to create a computerised database for the caves of Thailand.
The female of Heteropoda schwendingeri Jäger 2005 is described for the first time. Notes on intraspecific variation are given from two males and three females from the type locality, Than Lod Yai cave. Small variation and consistent combination of both male and female characters confirm its species status.
Bryocyclops muscicoloides, new species, and B. trangensis, new species, are described from caves in southern Thailand. They have a morphologic resemblance to B. muscicola (Menzel, 1926), a member of Group II sensu Lindberg (1954) in their armature formulae of Exp-2 P1-P4 (3.3.3.3 and 5.5.5.4 for spines and setae, respectively), intercoxal plates of P1-P4 acute, Enp P4 of female and male with one-and two-segmented, respectively, and urosomites and anal operculum serrated. However, B. muscicoloides, new species, is clearly distinguishable by the absence of inner coxal seta on P1, the absence of blunt setae on Exp-2 P2-P3, the shape of female Enp P4 and the unique transformed spine on the male Enp-2 P3 (the outstretched part tapers distally, and is located above the middle of the spine). Bryocyclops trangensis, new species, is characterised by the armature on Enp-2 P2 and Exp-2 P2-P3, the presence of spiniform processes on the male Enp-1 P4 and the transformed spine on the male Enp-2 P3 (the outstretched part is less-produced, and is located near the tip of the spine).
The Thyropygus bifurcus subgroup of the T. allevatus group is revised. Four new species are described from Thailand: T. demangei n. sp., T. quadricuspis n. sp., T. richardhoffmani n. sp., from Trang province and T. casjeekeli n. sp., from Krabi province. The other species of the T. bifurcus subgroup, viz., T. bifurcus (Demange, 1986), and T. enghoffi (Demange, 1989), are redescribed.
The Thyropygus opinatus subgroup of the T. allevatus group is revised. The T. opinatus subgroup corresponds to the genus Cornugonus Demange, 1961, which is formally synonymized under Thyropygus. Eight new species are described from Thailand: T. bearti n. sp., T. brachyacanthus n. sp., T. loxia n. sp., from Suratthani province, T. bispinus n. sp., from Uthaithani and Phrae provinces, T. bispinispatula n. sp., from Chumphon province, T. chelatus n. sp., from Nakhonsrithammarat province, T. cristagalli n. sp., from Phang Nga province and T. erectus n. sp., from Satun province. The other species of the T. opinatus subgroup, viz., T. opinatus (Karsch, 1881), n. comb., T. floweri (Demange, 1961), n. comb., T. implicatus (Demange, 1961), n. comb., and T. inflexus (Demange, 1989), n. comb., are redescribed. New records are given for T. opinatus, T. implicatus and T. floweri. The type locality of T. floweri is shown to be in Thailand rather than Malaysia.
Ten new species of Troglopedetes are described from caves of Thailand. The large variability found in some classical specific characters is discussed, and the interest of the macrochaetotaxic pattern is emphasized. A key to Thai species of the genus is given.