The new Sumatran pig
C. Boden Kloss, a zoologist associated with the Raffles Museum in Singapore, published this brief taxonomic note in 1906 describing Sus oi, a sparsely haired wild pig first collected on the Indragiri River in eastern Sumatra in 1901 and subsequently encountered on Pulo Battam in the Rio-Linga Archipelago. The article consolidates the original description by Miller with Kloss’s own examination of a freshly flayed specimen, and closes with a taxonomic argument against Lydekker’s claim that the species belongs to the fauna of the Malay Peninsula.
Summary
Kloss’s note serves two purposes: to supplement the original 1902 description of Sus oi with observations from a second, better-preserved specimen, and to correct a geographical misattribution. The type specimen, an adult male collected by Dr. W. L. Abbott in September 1901, was described by Miller as externally most similar to Sus barbatus but with a more scantily haired body, two warty protuberances on the muzzle, and a skull closely resembling that of Sus longirostris from Borneo. Kloss’s examination of the Pulo Battam specimen, presented to the Raffles Museum by Mr. J. E. Romenij, confirmed the general characters while revealing differences in colouring, tail bristle distribution, and the precise morphology of the nasal warts, which he notes are entirely cartilaginous and unconnected to the skull.
The article also incorporates Romenij’s field observations, which place the pig in the context of local hunting practices and habitat change. Romenij reports that the animals had not been encountered on Pulo Battam in earlier years and attributes their recent appearance near the coast to the opening of pineapple plantations, which drew them from the interior. He further notes that the pigs were hunted with Kling trackers, beaters, and packs of pariah dogs, and that the largest boar shot was lost when the sampan towing its carcase capsized in rough seas.
The final section is a pointed rebuttal of R. Lydekker’s 1904 note in Field, which had claimed Sus oi for the Malay Peninsula on the basis of its occurrence on Pulo Battam. Kloss argues that the fauna of the Rio-Linga Archipelago, though specifically differentiated in many respects, is entirely allied to that of Sumatra, and that only one species of wild pig—regarded as identical with Sus cristatus of India—is known from the Peninsula itself.
Key Findings
- The type specimen (U.S. National Museum No. 113,150) was collected on the Indragiri River, approximately 30 miles above its mouth, on 20 September 1901 by Dr. W. L. Abbott; it weighed 113 kg and measured 1,870 mm in total length (p. 54).
- The nasal warts on the Pulo Battam specimen are elliptical, approximately 50 mm in greatest diameter, rising 40 mm above the skin surface, and are entirely cartilaginous with no bony connection (p. 59).
- The Pulo Battam specimen stood 990 mm (39 inches) at the shoulder and measured 1,866 mm from snout to tail (p. 59).
- The skin of Sus oi shows no thickening in the shoulder region, in marked contrast to Sus cristatus or S. vittatus boars of the same age, whose shoulder shields approach an inch in thickness (pp. 59–60).
- The upper incisors of the Pulo Battam skull are separated by a space of only 10 mm, compared with 15 mm in the type specimen (p. 57).
- Kloss notes that the Rio-Linga Archipelago possesses its own forms of monkeys, rodents, and mouse-deer, raising the possibility that the pigs may eventually be found to constitute an insular race distinct from the Sumatran mainland form (p. 53).
Conclusion
Kloss’s definitive historical takeaway is geographical rather than taxonomic: Sus oi must not be claimed for the Malay Peninsula on the strength of its presence on Pulo Battam, because the biogeographical affinity of the Rio-Linga islands is with Sumatra, not the mainland. He leaves the question of specific validity open, conceding that insufficient material in European collections at the time made it impossible to refute Miller’s original opinion of distinctness.
Context
- The article draws on specimens held at the U.S. National Museum (type) and the Raffles Museum, Singapore (Pulo Battam specimen), as well as photographs supplied by Mr. Romenij.
- Kloss’s role as a curator at the Raffles Museum positions him as a contemporary authority on the mammalian fauna of the Straits Settlements, and his argument against Lydekker reflects an ongoing early-twentieth-century effort to delineate the biogeographical boundaries between the Sumatran and Peninsular faunal regions.