The bearded pig (Sus barbatus) in the Malay Peninsula
Robinson and Moulton (1922) document the first authenticated records of the Bearded Pig (Sus barbatus) in the Malay Peninsula, based on two specimens from Pekan, Pahang, and argue that the species is not indigenous to the peninsula but rather an occasional visitor from Borneo or the Riau Archipelago. The article also resolves a taxonomic dispute with Kloss by rejecting the validity of Sus oi as a distinct subspecies.
Summary
The article centres on two specimens that together establish the presence of Sus barbatus in Pahang. The first, a fully adult female, was shot by Dr. W. S. Leicester in the vicinity of Pekan around 1918; he reported that a herd of the breed had appeared in the area, and although he killed the sow and several half-grown animals, the large boar evaded capture each time before the herd disappeared (p. 202). The second specimen, a solitary boar’s skull, was obtained by J. E. Kempe, District Officer of Pekan, from a local hunter named Towkay Lee Cheow, who shot it at Sungei Genek, two miles upriver from Pekan town, in late 1921. Lee Cheow, a man of thirty-three years’ hunting experience who had slaughtered thousands of pigs, reported he had never seen such an animal before, noting its great length and height, a thick tuft of hair under each eye about two inches long, and a prominent beard (p. 202).
The authors use these records to address two questions: the biogeographical status of the species in the peninsula and its taxonomic relationship to the Bornean and Sumatran forms. On the first question, they find the evidence of rarity and the absence of any other authenticated records in the peninsula compelling, and conclude that the Pekan animals were likely the last survivors of a small herd that had crossed from the Malayan Islands—perhaps Pulo Batam, only ten miles south of Johore’s southern tip—and failed to establish a self-sustaining population under exotic conditions (pp. 202–203). On the taxonomic question, they compare the Pekan skulls with a topotype of Sus oi from the Indragiri River, Sumatra, and with specimens from the Riau Archipelago and Sarawak, Borneo. They find that the cranial differences Kloss had used to separate Sus oi—longer muzzle, longer mandibular symphysis, deeper mandible, more concave facial profile—can be explained by the varying age and innate variability of the specimens examined, and they therefore retain Sus barbatus as a single species covering Borneo, Sumatra, the Riau Archipelago, and Pahang (pp. 202–203).
The article is accompanied by an extensive table of cranial and dental measurements for specimens from all four localities, which also includes comparative data on the ordinary central Malayan pig Sus jubatus to demonstrate the dramatic size difference between the two species (pp. 202–204).
Key Findings
- The Pekan boar weighed 180 katis (approximately 240 pounds) in an emaciated state; the hunter estimated it would have scaled 230 katis or more in condition (p. 202).
- Dr. Leicester’s original female specimen was presented to the F. M. S. Museums; Kempe’s boar skull was presented to the Raffles Museum, Singapore (p. 202).
- The authors reject Kloss’s (1921) separation of Sus oi from Sus barbatus, arguing that the dental characters given by Miller are “too variable to be of any use” and that cranial differences reflect age and individual variation rather than taxonomic distinction (p. 202).
- Cranial measurements show the Pekan female (upper length 436 mm) and male (447 mm) fall within the range of Bornean Sus barbatus specimens (433–500 mm) and are substantially larger than Sus jubatus from the peninsula (336–361 mm) (pp. 202–204).
- The authors note that Sumatran, Riau, and Malayan animals appear more scantily haired than Bornean specimens, as observed in the flesh with the Bintang Island specimen (p. 205).
- Kloss’s name Sus branti for a Sumatran form, based on native accounts only, is noted as inadvertently published but valid under the laws of nomenclature because it is accompanied by a description (p. 203).
Conclusion
Robinson and Moulton’s definitive takeaway is twofold: the Bearded Pig is not a true member of the Malay Peninsula fauna but an occasional, non-self-sustaining visitor from the Borneo–Riau region, and the taxonomic entity Sus oi has no justification as a distinct subspecies of Sus barbatus. The Pekan records represent a fortuitous incursion rather than evidence of a resident population.
Context
- The specimens examined are held in the Raffles Museum, Singapore, and the Selangor Museum (F. M. S. Museums); the comparative Bornean series includes material from the British Museum (Natural History) and the authors’ own collection (H. C. R. series).
- The article engages directly with Kloss’s 1921 paper in the same journal (No. 83, pp. 147, 150), making it a contribution to the ongoing taxonomic revision of Malaysian Sus species in the early 1920s.