VSU and Mount Pangasugan
VSU is located on one of the last remaining virgin rain forests in the Philippines. A study by VSU found many animal species listed by the World Conservation Union in the Red List of Threatened Animals (IUCN Red List), including the Philippine tarsier, Philippine flying fox, Fischer’s pygmy fruit bat. New records of the microbat (Hypposideros obscurus), with a length of 5.5 centimeters and body weight of 10 grams, a type of skink (Tropidophorus grayh), and two new species of the fish Goblidae (Stiphodon olivaceous and Stiphodon surrufus) were also found by the VSU survey.
VSU’s Natural History Museum collected 43,000 arthropod specimens from 377 families and 500 genera on Mt. Pangasugan. A new species of orchid (Dendrobium milaniae) and a tiger beetle (Thopeutica milaniae) were named in honor of the former incumbent VSU president Dr. Paciencia Po-Milan, a renowned ecologist.
Other endemic species include the eagle-owl, Philippine hawk-eagle, Rufous Lord kingfisher, Philippine leafbird and miniature tit-babbler and flying lemur.
The Federal Republic of Germany (through the ViSCA-GTZ Applied Tropical EcologyProgranl, ViSCA, Baybay, Leyte, Philippines International) funded the VSU study to collect, identify, describe and document the existing species of aroids (Araceae) and orchids in Mt. Pangasugan. 25 species of aroids representing 12 genera were documented at elevations of up to 350 m ASL. Classified as erect ground dwellers or climbers, the most dominant aroid belong to Pothos and Epipremnum. The orchid species represent 16 genera, with the most dominant belonging to Phalaenopsis.
The Herpetofauna (herps) of Anibong, Jordan, Mt. Pangasugan Range, Leyte is a habitat to endemic species, which is so diverse and slightly distributed. The Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology identified 17 herpetofaunal species belonging to 6 families (Ranidae, Rhacophoridae, Agamidae, Scincidae, Colubridae, Viperidae), of which eight (47%) are endemics (Endemism). These endemic species include Limnonectes magnus, Platymantis corrugatus, Platymantis dorsalis, Brachymeles samarensis, Draco lineatus, Sphenomorphus jagori, Rhabdophis lineate and Trimeresurus flavomaculatus. Limnonectes magnus is already in the near-threatened category.
Read more about this topic: Visayas State University
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