Jungle of Matang & Sarawak regatta

[kuching]

Before going to jungle of Matang, I spent an hour to watch the annual boat racing event at riverfront of Kuching. More on my web:

Sarawak regatta:

http://www.ibanorum.netfirms.com/regatta2005.htm


Jungle of Mt. Serapi :

http://www.ibanorum.netfirms.com/serapimenu.htm


Boat racing....







Jungle trail of Matang:





Evergreen jungle:




Betta ibanorum:




Puntius cf everetti (got a blotch on its back)





Blue colored fruits:




Inflorescence of wild plant:




Fan palm. Matang area is the only area on earth where u can find so many species of palm :






Butterfly:

[andrewtyr]

Wild life. Breathe it, love it.

[hwchoy]

Puntius cf everetti (got a blotch on its back)

how big are these? looks like one of those stripe barbs juvenile switching from bar to stripe

[hwchoy]

Fan palm. Matang area is the only area on earth where u can find so many species of palm :

erm… sure anot? where did you get that stats from?

[kuching]

how big are these? looks like one of those stripe barbs juvenile switching from bar to stripe

No...the adult one is around 6cm...also got the blotch.

[kuching]

erm… sure anot? where did you get that stats from?

From the reference book "National Park of sarawak". There are 86 species of palm in Matang.....the only place on earth can find so many species! 16 out of 86 are endemic to Borneo.

Borneo is really a center of Biodiversity!!!

[hwchoy]

but the bar just after the operculum looks suspicious.

oh wait! you said cf. everetti, I thought you said binotatus hehe. got pix of the adult?

[kuching]

but the bar just after the operculum looks suspicious.

oh wait! you said cf. everetti, I thought you said binotatus hehe. got pix of the adult?

oh....today is "off day" for fish collecting....ha!ha! no more close up pix of the fish....maybe next time lah.

[hwchoy]

From the reference book "National Park of sarawak". There are 86 species of palm in Matang.....the only place on earth can find so many species! 16 out of 86 are endemic to Borneo.

Borneo is really a center of Biodiversity!!!

interesting why in particular around this area? considering that palms can easily spread around the entire northwest Borneo region.

[hwchoy]

From the reference book "National Park of sarawak". There are 86 species of palm in Matang.....the only place on earth can find so many species! 16 out of 86 are endemic to Borneo.

Borneo is really a center of Biodiversity!!!

I was prompted to check out my copy of Palms of Malaya - T.C. Whitmore and found an interesting paragraph. The Sunda subcontinent must have been the centre of evolution of Palmae

…it comes as no surprise to learn that, with 34 wild genera and 220 wilds species, Malaya is one of the most richly endowed palm lands of the world. There are as many palms recorded from Singapore island (18 genera, 46 species) as on the whole of mainland Africa (15 genera, 50 species) and more than Ceylon (10 genera, 21 species). Four of the 34 genera are endemic to Malaya: that is they do not grow anywhere else.

[kuching]

I was prompted to check out my copy of Palms of Malaya - T.C. Whitmore and found an interesting paragraph. The Sunda subcontinent must have been the centre of evolution of Palmae

…it comes as no surprise to learn that, with 34 wild genera and 220 wilds species, Malaya is one of the most richly endowed palm lands of the world. There are as many palms recorded from Singapore island (18 genera, 46 species) as on the whole of mainland Africa (15 genera, 50 species) and more than Ceylon (10 genera, 21 species). Four of the 34 genera are endemic to Malaya: that is they do not grow anywhere else.

Sorry...it should be "one of the richest"...not the richest.

[hwchoy]

doesn't matter, the Sunda subcontinent includes the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo and Java

[kuching]

doesn't matter, the Sunda subcontinent includes the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo and Java

Mulu NP of Sarawak got around 110 species of wild palm. But Mulu NP is 26 times larger than NP at Matang....so 86 species in a small area is considered....A LOT!!!!!