Endemic Animals of Philippines

The Philippine flying lemur is a strange-looking animal and is neither a true lemur nor a true flier. Rather, it is a gliding mammal that has a patagium or gliding membrane stretching from the side of its neck to the ends of its fingers and toes, and to the tip of its tail. This membrane is more extensive than that of any other gliding mammal. The Philippine flying lemur is totally arboreal and almost its entire life is spent in the canopy, ...
gliding gracefully from one tree to the next, travelling as far as 100 m or more. The lifespan of these animals is not known, but the oldest known flying lemur of a related species in captivity was 17.5 years old. Less

Known as the “world’s smallest monkey” because of its similarity in appearance to that primate, tarsiers, along with lemurs, tree shrews, and lorises, actually are members of a more primitive suborder of Prosimii or prosimian. They are amongst the oldest land species that have existed continuously in the Philippines, dating from the early Eocene period, 45 million years ago. The Philippine tarsier has various distinctive habits and chara ...
cteristics that make it an object of both popular curiosity and scientific research. Its eyes are unique and are almost twice as big as those of humans, however, they cannot see from the corners. Its head can rotate as much as 180 degrees, so it is able to leap backward with great precision. In addition, enabled by adhesive discs on the soles of its limbs, tarsiers cling to branches either horizontally or vertically. Less

The Visayan warty pig is a small, forest-dwelling pig, little known, and only recently recognized as a distinct species. The males or boars are much larger than the females or sows, and, unique amongst wild pigs, grow crests and manes during the breeding season that are as long as 23 cm. They are named after the islands where they live, and because of the three pairs of “warts” on the face of male pigs, which may help protect their face when fig ...
hting. Less

Philippine crocodiles are amongst the most endangered of the freshwater crocodiles. Small, with relatively broad snouts, on their backs they have thick bony plates. They have between 66 and 68 teeth which regularly fall out, to be replaced by new ones. Their golden brown color darkens as they grow. The females are a little smaller than males. This critically endangered species was once common throughout the Philippines but today lives on only a ...
few islands. Less

The Giant golden-crowned flying fox is native and endemic exclusively to the Philippines. Otherwise called the Golden-capped Fruit Bat, this animal is the largest and one of the rarest bats around the globe, currently classified as Endangered. Moreover, this animal is threatened with extinction as a result of continuous poaching and destruction of its forest habitat. These massive, giant bats belong to the group of megabats. There is very little ...
information on the life expectancy of this species, although captive individuals are known to live as long as 23 years, while those in the wild are believed to live less - up to 15 years. Less

The genus Gallicolumba has a number of species known as "bleeding-hearts", ground doves that get this name due to a splash of bright red in the middle of their white breast. Luzon bleeding-hearts are among these, their species is the one where the color is most vivid, making it look as though it has been wounded. Males and females look very similar, though females are duller overall, and their red breast patch is smaller and paler. Less

Tamaraw are dark brown to grayish in color small hoofed mammals with short and stocky limbs. There are white markings in the hooves and the inner lower forelegs. Most of the members of the species also have a pair of gray-white strips that begins from the inner corner of the eye to the horns. The nose and lips have black skin. The ears have white markings on the insides. Both males and females have short black horns in a V-shaped manner; the ...
horns have flat surfaces and are triangular at their base. Less

The Philippine eagle is an endangered species of eagle native to forests in the Philippines. It is considered the largest of the extant eagles in the world in terms of length and wing surface. The eagle has a dark face and a creamy-brown nape and crown. Its nape is adorned with long, brown feathers that form a shaggy, manelike crest. The back of the Philippine eagle is dark brown, while the underside and underwings are white. The heavy legs are ...
yellow, with large, powerful, dark claws, and the prominent, large, high-arched, deep beak is a bluish-gray. The eagle's eyes are blue-gray. Juveniles are similar to adults except their upperpart feathers have pale fringes. Less

The Philippine cobra is a highly venomous snake native to the northern regions of the Philippines. It has a fairly stocky build, and adult snakes are uniformly light to medium brown, while the juveniles tend to be a darker brown in color. The head is elliptical, depressed, slightly distinct from the neck with a short, rounded snout and large nostrils. The eyes are moderate in size with dark brown and round pupils. Less

The Philippine pangolin is a medium-sized mammal covered in small triangular scales made of keratin everywhere except the underbelly and face. It regrows new scales when they are lost and always has the same number of scales throughout its lifespan. The scales come in shades of brown, yellow, and olive, making for adequate camouflage at night. Areas of the body without scales are covered in a layer of hair. Less

The Philippine forest turtle is a critically endangered freshwater turtle native to the Philippines. Its plastron is reddish-brown to black in color, sometimes with blotches of yellow. In juveniles, the plastron is a uniform yellow. The bridge (the hinge connecting plastron and carapace) is the same color as the plastron. It is significantly smaller than the carapace and narrow at the front and back. The skin of the legs, body, and neck are ...
rough in appearance, being covered in tiny tubercles. The head is brown in color, sometimes speckled at the temples with light brown, orange, or red spots. A thin white to pale yellow line traverses through the width of the head just behind the openings of the ears, it may be divided at the center in some individuals. This has led to the species being nicknamed the 'bowtie turtle'. The line is more prominent in younger individuals. The upper jaw of this turtle is hooked and the skin on the sides of the neck and the chin are lighter in color. The lower jaw may also sometimes possess a pair of small yellow spots on the sides. The tail is uniformly light brown in color. Less

The Philippine deer is a vulnerable deer species native to the Philippines. It is generally brown in color with a white tail underside. Antlers are common among males and measure 20 to 40 cm. Less

The Visayan spotted deer is a nocturnal and endangered species of deer. It is easily distinguished from other species of deer in the Philippines by the distinctive "A" pattern of beige spots which dot its deep brown back and sides. Other distinctive features include cream underparts and white fur on the chin and lower lip. The animal's head and neck are brown but lighter than the body, and the eyes are ringed with paler fur. Males are larger ...
than females and have short, thick, bumpy antlers. Less

The windowpane oyster is a bivalve marine mollusk in the family of Placunidae. They are edible, but valued more for their shells . The shells have been used for thousands of years as a glass substitute because of their durability and translucence. More recently, they have been used in the manufacture of decorative items such as chandeliers and lampshades; in this use, the shell is known as the capiz or kapis. Capiz shells are also used as raw ...
materials for glue, chalk and varnish. Less

The red-vented cockatoo, also known as the Philippine cockatoo and locally katala, abukay, agay or kalangay, is a critically endangered species of cockatoo that is endemic to the Philippines. It is roughly the size and shape of the Tanimbar corella, but is easily distinguished by the red feathers around the vent. It is threatened by habitat loss and the cage-bird trade. Less

Dolabella auricularia, also known as the wedge sea hare, is a species of large sea slug, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusk in the family Aplysiidae, the sea hares. Less

The Philippine dwarf kingfisher is a species of bird in the family Alcedinidae that is endemic to the Philippines found in the islands of Luzon, Polillo Islands, Catanduanes, Basilan, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao. Its natural habitat is tropical moist lowland forests.It is threatened by habitat loss. Less

The Palawan peacock-pheasant is a medium-sized bird in the family Phasianidae. It is featured prominently in the culture of the indigenous people of Palawan. The bird is also depicted in the official seal of the city of Puerto Princesa. Less

The Palawan stink badger, or pantot, is a carnivoran of the western Philippines named for its resemblance to badgers, its powerful smell, and the largest island to which it is native, Palawan. Like all stink badgers, the Palawan stink badger was once thought to share a more recent common ancestor with badgers than with skunks. Recent genetic evidence, however, has led to their re-classification as one of the Mephitidae, the skunk family of ...
mammals. It is the size of a large skunk or small badger, and uses its badger-like body to dig by night for invertebrates in open areas near patches of brush. While it lacks the whitish dorsal patches typical of its closest relatives, predators and hunters generally avoid the powerful noxious chemicals it can spray from the specialized anal glands characteristic of mephitids. Less

The Philippine warty pig is one of four known species in the pig genus endemic to the Philippines. The other three endemic species are the Visayan warty pig, Mindoro warty pig and the Palawan bearded pig, also being rare members of the family Suidae. Philippine warty pigs have two pairs of warts, with a tuft of hair extending outwards from the warts closest to the jaw. It has multiple native common names, but it is most widely known as baboy ...
damo in Tagalog. Less

The Samar cobra also called Peters' cobra, southern Philippine cobra or Visayan cobra, is a highly venomous species of spitting cobra native to the Visayas and Mindanao island groups of the Philippines. Less

The Philippine eagle-owl is a vulnerable species of owl belonging to the family Strigidae. It is endemic to the Philippines, where found in lowland forests on the islands of Catanduanes, Samar, Bohol, Mindanao, Luzon, Leyte and possibly Sibuyan. It is known locally as the kuwago or bukaw. Less

The rufous hornbill, also known as the Philippine hornbill and locally as kalaw, is a large species of hornbill endemic to the Philippines . The are referred by locals as the "clock-of-the-mountains" due to its large booming call which typically occur of every hour. It occurs in moist tropical lowland forest. They are now considered to be a threatened species and its reasons for decline being habitat destruction. hunting and poaching for the ...
illegal pet trade. It is illegal to hunt, capture or possess rufous hornbills under Philippine Law RA 9147. Less

The Philippine sailfin lizard, crested lizard, sail-fin lizard, sailfin water lizard, soa-soa water lizard or its native name ibid is an oviparous lizard endemic to the Philippines. Less

The Philippine hanging parrot is also widely known as the colasisi taken from its local Tagalog name, "kulasisi". It is a small parrot species of the family Psittaculidae. It includes about eleven subspecies, which are all native to only the Philippines; however, the exact taxonomy is unclear, and at least one of the subspecies might become split off and become a separate species if further research provides clarification. While it is listed as ...
Least Concern in IUCN, some sub-species may already be possibly extinct such as the chyrsonotus sub-species in Cebu and the siquijorensis sub-species in Siquijor. Threats include habitat loss but its biggest threat is trapping as pets for the illegal wildlife trade where they are often sold in streets and online selling groups. They are mainly green with areas of red, orange, yellow, and blue varying between subspecies. Only the males have a red area on their fronts, except for the population living on Camiguin, where neither male nor female have this red area. They make nests in tree holes and, unusually for a parrot, the female takes nesting material back to the nest. Less

The Palawan bearded pig is a pig species in the genus Sus endemic to the Philippines, where it occurs on the archipelago of islands formed by Balabac, Palawan, and the Calamian Islands. It is 1 to 1.6 m in length, about 1 m tall and weigh up to 150 kg . Less

Trimeresurus flavomaculatus is a venomous pit viper species endemic to the Philippines. Two subspecies are currently recognized, including the nominate subspecies described here. Less

The Palawan bearcat, also commonly known as the Palawan binturong, is a subspecies of the binturong, a mammal in the family Viverridae. It is endemic to the island of Palawan in the Philippines. Less

The Philippine duck is a large dabbling duck of the genus Anas. Its native name is papan. It is endemic to the Philippines. As few as 5,000 may remain. Overhunting and habitat loss have contributed to its decline. It eats shrimp, fish, insects, and vegetation, and it frequents all types of wetlands. Less

The Calamian deer, also known as Calamian hog deer, is an endangered species of deer found only in the Calamian Islands of Palawan province in the Philippines. It is one of three species of deer native to the Philippines, the other being the Philippine sambar, and Visayan spotted deer . Less

The Philippine naked-backed fruit bat or Philippine bare-backed fruit bat is a megabat that mostly lives on Negros Island. Two small populations were also found on Cebu Island in the Philippines. Like other bare-backed fruit bats, its wings meet along the midline of their bodies, making it a very agile flier. It roosted in caves, in areas where little light penetrated the gloom. It was so abundant once that it left piles of guano, which were ...
used by miners as fertilizer. By the mid-1980s, the lowland forest was replaced by sugar cane plantations and the bat vanished. In 1996 the species was declared extinct by the IUCN, as none had been sighted since 1964, but the bat was rediscovered in 2000. The species now survives in very small numbers. The bat lives in caves and comes out at night to eat fruits from local rainforests. After the forests were cut down to make way for sugar plantations the bat population dropped drastically, and the few remaining ones are still hunted for their meat. Now the bats reside in the few areas of remaining forest, and if these are cut down, the species is likely to go extinct. The forest where the bats live in Cebu is protected in that it cannot be cut down, but there are no conservation measures on Negros. Less

The Gray's monitor is a large monitor lizard known only from lowland dipterocarp forest in southern Luzon, Catanduanes, and Polillo Island, all islands in the Philippines. It is also known as Gray's monitor lizard, butaan, and ornate monitor. It belongs to the subgenus Philippinosaurus. It is largely arboreal and extremely shy. The Northern Sierra Madre monitor lizard was thought to be of same species with Gray's monitor until a research ...
concluded in 2010 that northern populations of Gray's monitor was a distinct species, now known as V. bitatawa. Less

Walden's hornbill locally called dulungan, also known as the Visayan wrinkled hornbill, rufous-headed hornbill or writhed-billed hornbill, is a critically endangered species of hornbill living in the rainforests on the islands of Negros and Panay in the Philippines. It is closely related to the writhed hornbill, but can be recognized by the yellow throat and ocular skin in the male, and the blue throat and ocular skin in the female . Its ...
binomial name commemorates the Scottish ornithologist Viscount Walden. It is considered one of the Western Visayas Big 5 which includes the Negros bleeding-heart pigeon, Visayan spotted deer, Visayan hornbill and the Visayan warty pig. Less

The northern Luzon giant cloud rat or northern Luzon slender-tailed cloud rat, also known as bu-ot in Filipino, is a large species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is only found in Luzon, the Philippines. Less

The Philippine serpent eagle is an eagle found in the major islands of the Philippines. It is sometimes treated as a race of the crested serpent eagle . This species is usually found in forest clearings, open woodlands, and sometimes in cultivated lands with scattered trees. It is endemic to the Philippines. The species is found on most part of the major islands, except for Palawan. Less

The Mindanao bleeding-heart, also known as Bartlett's bleeding heart dove, Barlett's bleeding heart pigeon and the hair-breasted bleeding heart, is a species of bird in the pigeon family. It is endemic to the Philippines on the islands of Mindanao, Basilan, Samar, Leyte and Bohol. It is so named because of a red blotch on its breast. The generic name derives from a fusion of the Latin gallus and columba . Less

The ornate monitor is a monitor lizard that is native to West and Middle Africa. Comprehensive molecular analyses of the group have demonstrated that animals previously assigned to "Varanus ornatus" do not constitute a valid taxon and are actually polymorphisms of two different species; Varanus stellatus and Varanus niloticus . Consequently, Varanus ornatus is considered a synonym of Varanus niloticus and "ornate monitor" is an informal term for ...
forest forms of either species . Until 1997, the ornate monitor was considered a subspecies of the Nile monitor. It was subsequently described as a separate species on the basis of reduced number of ocelli rows on the body, a light coloured tongue and a more massive build. More recent work based on a large sample size using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences indicates that Varanus ornatus is not a valid species and that animals with the diagnostic appearance belong either of two sister species of Nile monitor. Animals described as ornate monitor lizards are native to closed canopy forests in West and Middle Africa. Less

The Sulu hornbill, or Montano's hornbill, is a species of hornbill in the family Bucerotidae. It is endemic to the Sulu archipelago in the Philippines, with the remaining populations in Tawi-Tawi with it believed to be hunted to extinction on Jolo. Its natural habitat is tropical moist forests. It is threatened by habitat loss as well as potential harvesting for food. Its diet includes fruit, insects, and small lizards. Less

The Mindoro bleeding-heart is bird native to the Philippines solely found on the island of Mindoro. It is critically endangered and is one of the rarest birds in the world The Mindoro bleeding-heart is a type of ground dove. It is threatened by habitat loss, especially for marble extraction. Due to its biological line and its survival status, it has been listed as an EDGE species by the Zoological Society of London. The IUCN Red List classifies ...
it as Critically Endangered with an estimate of just 50 -249 mature individuals. Its main threats are habitat loss and trapping. Extreme loss of forest was caused by Illegal logging, dynamite-blasting for marble, Slash-and-burn or kaingin. Snares intended mainly for other animals such as Red junglefowl and other small mammals accidentally catch bleeding-hearts. Less

The Palawan hornbill is a large forest bird endemic to the Philippines. It is one of the 11 endemic hornbills in the country. It is only found in Palawan and nearby islands of Balabac, Busuanga, Calauit, Culion and Coron. It is locally known as 'talusi' in the language Cuyunon, It is threatened by habitat loss, hunting and trapping for the cage-bird trade. Less