A Legacy Of Wallace: Sarawak Museum And The History Of Herpetological Research In Sarawak

Das, Indraneil and Leh, Charles (2005) A Legacy Of Wallace: Sarawak Museum And The History Of Herpetological Research In Sarawak. In: Wallace in Sarawak - 150 Years Later: Proceedings of an International Conference on Biogeography and Biodiversity. Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS), pp. 57-65. ISBN 9789839257502

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Abstract

We provide an account of the history of herpetology of Sarawak, and the contributions of early collectors and observers. Alfred Russel Wallace wrote a long passage on the gliding habits of the so-called Wallace's Flying Frog, and made a small collection of reptiles and amphibians. He is also said to have inspired James Brooke, the First Rajah of Sarawak, to start the Sarawak Museum. This historic collection is repository of herpetological specimens made by Edward Bartlett, Charles Hose, Robert Shelford and Tom Harrisson. More recent collections have been made during field work in northern Sarawak by Robert F. Inger of the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Robert B. Stuebing, during the International Tropical Timber Organisation Expedition to Lanjak-Entimau, and during the Royal Geographical Society/Sarawak Forest Department Expedition to Gunung Mulu (1977–78). New amphibian species from the Mulu Expedition were described by Julian Dring. At present, types of five amphibian and eight reptile species are extant in the Sarawak Museum collection.

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