Stomach contents of the Indian Pangolin Manis crassicaudata(Mammalia: Pholidota: Manidae)in tropical forests of southern India

Abstract

Pangolins are scaly anteaters and are unique in being the world’s only true scaly mammals, distributed in Asia and Africa. Of the eight species of pangolin, four species are found in Asia, the Chinese Pangolin Manis pentadactyla, Indian Pangolin M.crassicaudata, Sunda Pangolin M. javanica and the Philippine Pangolin M. culionensis. The Indian Pangolin(hereafter referred to as Pangolin) is distributed in South Asia from the northeast and southeast of Pakistan, throughout the Indian sub-continent including Sri Lanka and east to southern Nepal. It was found throughout Bangladesh historically, but there are no records currently and their presence is uncertain in Western China (Schlitter 2005; Baillie et al. 2014). They occupy diverse habitats ranging from tropical and sub-tropical forests to dry woodlands and savannah regions, as well as human modified habitats such as coconut and rubber plantations. Though they are distributed in diverse habitats, their population status is unknown.