Crustaceans Insects Bony Fish Amphibians Reptiles Mammals Birds
Malaysia, comprising the lower part of the Malay Peninsula as well as roughly a third of the island of Borneo, is ranked among the world’s most biodiverse countries. The geographically disparate nature of the country is reflected in diverse cultures, geological wonders that include both the world’s longest cave system and its largest underground chamber, and representatives of some of the most species-rich ecosystems on Earth. On land, Malaysia's territory includes some of the world's oldest and most diverse rainforests; underwater, the wildlife-rich Indian Ocean and South China Sea draw divers to such sites as Sipadan and Lyang-Lyang.
Malaysia's iconic species include the Bornean orang-utan, still found in a small number of sites in Malaysian North Borneo but most often encountered in the Sepilok wildlife rehabilitation centre; proboscis monkeys, another Bornean endemic, can readily be seen in parts of Sarawak and Sabah, several species of hornbills and the spectacular Rajah Brooke's birdwing butterfly. Species of Rafflesiana, the world's largest flowering plant, and several species of pitcher plant are also iconic national images.
The country is one of the wealthiest in Southeast Asia, a status that affords a comparatively high standard for biodiversity protection within its protected areas. Nevertheless, Malaysia is second only to Indonesia in the land area covered by oil palm plantations. The expansion of this form of agriculture, especially in Borneo, does not bode well for the future of the country's unprotected lowland forests. Even within the Gunung Mulu World Heritage Area, the nests of edible swiftlets, are illegally collected outside the prescribed harvesting season.
Malaysia's rich marine habitats, freshwater ecosystems, offshore islands and mangrove forests harbour a diverse array of crabs and prawns; over a hundred species of crabs are known from mangrove habitats alone. Fiddler crabs, of which Malaysia has at least eleven species, may be highly abundant in intertidal habitats where they are an important component of the nutrient recycling process, shredding and burying leaf litter and so aiding in decomposition. Many of Malaysia's freshwater crabs have restricted ranges and are endemic to the country's mountains or offshore islands, making them priority species for conservation.
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Land Hermit Crab |
Coenobita cavipes |
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Porcelain Fiddler Crab |
Uca annulipes |
Peninsular Malaysia alone is home to over 230 species of dragonfly, twice the number known in Europe, and the country is among the richest in the region for this insect group. As a country with large tracts of tropical forest, Malaysia is a haven for a great many insects, including some of the world's largest species of mantis and a wide array of colourful butterflies and beetles. Malaysia's most famous insect resident is Rajah Brooke's birdwing (Trogonoptera brookesiana), a large and spectacular black, green and red member of the swallowtail family.
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Painted Waxtail |
Ceriagrion cerinorubellum |
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Red Swampdragon |
Agrionoptera insignis insignis |
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Blue Dasher |
Brachydiplax chalybea |
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Shaded Basker |
Tyriobapta torrida |
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Orange Skimmer |
Orthetrum testaceum testaceum |
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Coppertone Velvetwing |
Neurothemis fluctuans |
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Dragonfly |
Neurothemis terminata |
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Atlas Moth |
Attacus atlas |
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Common Mormon |
Papilio polytes |
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Rajah Brooke's Birdwing |
Trogonoptera brookiana |
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Common Birdwing |
Troides helena |
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Giant Moth |
Lyssa zampa |
BONY FISH
Situated as it is in the Indo-Pacific region, Malaysia boasts one of world's richest marine fish faunas. There are also at least 614 species of freshwater fish known from the country, with new discoveries still being made on Borneo; in 2006 alone, 30 new species were reported from the island.
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Indo-Pacific Sergeant |
Abudefduf vaigiensis |
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Moon Wrasse |
Thalassoma lunare |
Southeast Asia is second only to South America in amphibian diversity. Malaysia alone has over 200 species, a number of them restricted to Sarawak and Sabah or to small ranges on the Peninsula. The country is perhaps best-known for its horned frogs (genus Megophrys), extremely well-camouflaged species of rainforest leaf litter with a fleshy, forward-pointing 'horn' projecting from above each eye.
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Malaysian Horned Frog |
Megophrys nasuta |
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Lesser Marsh Frog |
Limnonectes paramacrodon |
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Brown Swamp Frog |
Hylarana baramica |
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Black-spotted Rock Frog |
Staurois natator |
Malaysia's reptile fauna too is characteristically diverse, and includes such charismatic species as the water monitor (Varanus salvator), the world's second largest lizard, the bright black-and-yellow mangrove cat snake, king cobra, and several species of pit viper. There are several species of brightly-coloured 'flying' snake (genus Chrysopelia), flying lizards (Draco spp.) and flying gecko (Ptychozoon spp.), all of which are able to glide short distances between trees. Four species of marine turtle are present, and all are highly endangered in Malaysia due to the pressures of egg collection, pollution and development of their nesting beaches.
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Green Sea Turtle |
Chelonia mydas |
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Common Garden Lizard |
Calotes versicolor |
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Blanford's Flying Dragon |
Draco blanfordii |
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Kendall's Day Gecko |
Cnemapsis kendallii |
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Flat-tailed Gecko |
Cosymbotes platyurus |
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Peter's bent-toed gecko |
Cyrtodactylus consobrinus |
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Warty House Gecko |
Gekko monarchus |
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Speckled Forest Skink |
Eutropis macularia |
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Sun-skink |
Eutropis rudis |
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Water Skink |
Tropidophorus brookei |
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Common Mock Viper |
Psammodynastes pulverulentus |
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Temple Viper |
Tropidolaemus wagleri |
Malaysia is home to many of South East Asia's most distinctive and charismatic mammals, foremost among them the Bornean orang-utan and the proboscis monkey. The latter is more readily seen in Sarawak and along the Kinabatagan in Sabah than in other parts of the island. Colugos (flying lemurs), elephants, tigers, rhinoceros, pangolins, tarsiers and several other species of primate can all be found in the country, and the Malayan tapir still survives in isolated patches in Peninsular Malaysia. Perhaps Malaysia's most spectacular mammal spectacle, however, takes place every evening around Deer Cave in Gunung Mulu National Park, where one of the world's largest bat colonies streams out of the cave in such high densities that they look like ribbons of smoke.
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Colugo |
Cynocephalus variegatus |
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Bearded Pig |
Sus barbatus |
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Water Buffalo |
Bubalus bubalis |
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Lesser Sheath-tailed Bat |
Emballonura monticola |
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Long-tailed Macaque |
Macaca fascicularis |
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Silvered Langur |
Presbytis cristata |
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Proboscis Monkey |
Nasalis larvatus |
Malaysia's most iconic birds are of course the hornbills. The country boasts ten species, among them the rhinoceros, great and Oriental pied hornbill (all species beloved of wildlife photographers and documentary filmmakers). These striking birds occur alongside some 620 other species, making Malaysia globally important for this animal group. Although only a very small proportion are endemic, at least 33 of the country's species occur nowhere else.
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Lesser Adjutant Stork |
Leptoptilos javanicus |
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Brahminy Kite |
Haliaster indus |
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Black-backed Kingfisher |
Ceryx erithacus |
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Rhinoceros Hornbill |
Buceros rhinoceros |
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Common Myna |
Acridotheres tristris |
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Red-rumped Swallow |
Cecropis daurica |
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House Sparrow |
Passer domesticus |
Click anywhere on the map to go directly to the Malaysia species list, or near one of the named hotspots (italicised) to go to the species list for that region.
