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Geographical and environmental factors influence the food availability and diet of orangutans. Moreover, tree phenology affects productivity and food availability in orangutan habitats. As a result, orangutans must be able to adapt to their food availability in the wild. This study aims to analyse the daily activity patterns and eating behaviour of the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) and their relationship to food availability through the fruit availability index (FAI) and phenology at Soraya Research Station (SRS), Aceh. From the 648 hours of observation on five orangutans' daily activities, we found that resting is the activity with the highest percentage (48%), followed by feeding (22.5%) and moving (21.8%). The high percentage of resting activity might correlate with its low FAI in SRS (1.01%). The resting activity limits orangutans' energy expenditure. Furthermore, barks, fruits, and other plants (including lianas, ferns, and epiphytes) were the main type of diet of Sumatran orangutans in SRS with a frequency of 40.6%, 28.9%, and 15.6%, respectively. The high bark consumption by the orangutans acts as their fallback diet at SRS and is thought to be a form of adaptation to the low fruit availability. This study showed the orangutan adaptation to low fruit availability in SRS through their daily activity and diet patterns.

Species detection and identification is a crucial steps in biodiversity assessment. Traditional methods are often invasive and resource intensive. The number of studies demonstrating successful of eDNA metabarcoding approach in species identification has increased rapidly in recent years. Some of large terrestrial mammals have reportedly utilize natural salt licks as a source of minerals in the diet and its genetic material left in the environment can be used to identify species from this site. An eDNA metabarcoding protocol had been carried out to identify Sulawesi mammals from Adudu natural salt-licks, Nantu Wildlife Reserve, Gorontalo. Environmental DNA were extracted from water samples, Amplicon libraries were prepared by PCR amplification and Illumina MiSeq high throughput sequencing. Reads processing and taxonomic assignment carried out in two bioinformatics packages, PipeCraft-1.0 and OBITools-2.11. Two endangered Sulawesi mammals species had been identified, i.e. lowland anoa (Bubalus depressicornis) and babirusa (Babyrousa babyrussa). The accuracy of mammal species identification using eDNA metabarcoding is affected by rigorous experimental procedures, DNA marker reliability, and availability of reference sequence database.

The hypervariable region I of mitochondrial DNA has frequently been used to distinguish among populations, in particular in species with strong female philopatry. In such cases, populations are expected to diverge rapidly for hypervariable region I markers because of the smaller effective population size and thus increased genetic drift. This rapid divergence leads to the accumulation of mutations exclusively found in one population, which may serve as diagnostic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). To date, diagnostic SNPs distinctive to Sumatran orangutan populations have not yet been described. However, given the continuously declining numbers of Sumatran orangutans, this information can be vital for effective conservation measures, especially regarding reintroductions of orangutans in rehabilitation centers. Phylogenetic analyses of 54 samples of Sumatran orangutans from nine sampling sites with good provenance, we found five major clades and a total of 20 haplotypes. We propose a total of 52 diagnostic SNPs that are specific to Sumatran orangutan populations. Data can be used to develop restriction fragment length polymorphism assays to carry out genetic assignments using basic laboratory equipment to assign Sumatran orangutan to their population of origin.

Banteng, Bos javanicus, as wild cattle is a vital and importance source of germplasm in Indonesia. Various human activities currently threaten their conservation status. Nonetheless, no long-term monitoring programmes are in place for this species. Using distribution point and statistical analysis based on 46,116 camera trap days from December 2015 to January 2017, we aimed to provide habitat preferences, activity patterns and ecological data for banteng population in Ujung Kulon National Park (UKNP). It is the largest population of banteng in Indonesia and is living in a limited habitat area. According to the best occupancy model, the most suitable areas for this species were the secondary forest located at the center portion of UKNP. The presence of the invasive cluster sugar palm, Arenga obtusifolia, in dry season provides additional alternative food for banteng when its main food is scarcer in the forest. Banteng was cathemeral all year round, with the proportion of cathemeral records and the recording rate did not change with the protection of the level area, moon phase or season. To reduce the probability of encountering predators, banteng avoided the space use of dholes. Selection and avoidance of habitats was stronger than avoidance of the predator activity areas. Habitat competition from domestic cattle which grazed illegally in the national park appears to be a problem to the species since zoonosis appears from domestic cattle to banteng. Therefore, effective law enforcement and an adequate conservation strategy are required to eliminate the impacts of both direct and indirect threats.

This work was financially supported by University of Zurich (UZH) Forschungskredit grants FK-10 (M.P.M.-G.), FK-15-103 (A. Nater), and FK-14-094 (T.B.S.), Swiss National Science Foundation grant 3100A-116848 (M.K.and C.P.v.S.), the Leakey Foundation (M.P.M.-G.), the A.H. Schultz Foundation (M.K. and M.P.M.-G.), UZH Research Priority Program “Evolution in Action” (M.K.), Arcus Foundation grant G-PGM-1411-1112 (E.M.), Australian National University (ANU) research fund (A. Nurcahyo), an ANU Vice Chancellor Travel Grant (A. Nurcahyo), Australia Awards Scholarship-DFAT (A. Nurcahyo), ERC Starting Grant 260372 (T.M.-B.), EMBOYIP 2013 (T.M.-B.), MINECOBFU2014-55090-P, BFU2015-7116-ERC, BFU2015-6215-ERCU01, and MH106874 (T.M.-B.), Fundacio Zoo Barcelona (T.M.-B.), Julius–Klaus Foundation (M.K.), MINECO/FEDERBFU2016-77961-P (J.B. and M.P.), Gates Cambridge Trust (T.D.), and the Department of Anthropology at the University of Zurich. Six extant species of non-human great apes are currently recognized: Sumatran and Bornean orangutans, eastern and western gorillas, and chimpanzees and bonobos [1]. However, large gaps remain in our knowledge of fine-scale variation in hominoid morphology, behavior, and genetics, and aspects of great ape taxonomy remain in flux. This is particularly true for orangutans (genus: Pongo), the only Asian great apes and phylogenetically our most distant relatives among extant hominids [1]. Designation of Bornean and Sumatran orangutans, P. pygmaeus (Linnaeus 1760) and P. abelii (Lesson 1827), as distinct species occurred in 2001 [1, 2]. Here, we show that an isolated population from Batang Toru, at the southernmost range limit of extant Sumatran orangutans south of Lake Toba, is distinct from other northern Sumatran and Bornean populations. By comparing cranio-mandibular and dental characters of an orangutan killed in a human-animal conflict to those of 33 adult male orangutans of a similar developmental stage, we found consistent differences between the Batang Toru individual and other extant Ponginae. Our analyses of 37 orangutan genomes provided a second line of evidence. Model-based approaches revealed that the deepest split in the evolutionary history of extant orangutans occurred ∼3.38 mya between the Batang Toru population and those to the north of Lake Toba, whereas both currently recognized species separated much later, about 674 kya. Our combined analyses support a new classification of orangutans into three extant species. The new species, Pongo tapanuliensis, encompasses the Batang Toru population, of which fewer than 800 individuals survive. Postprint

Seed of Jatropha curcas (Euphorbiaceae) is currently established as the source for biofuel Therefore, it is important to understand the diversity insects that pollinated J. curcas inflorescence yellow flowers. We also aimed to study the pollination effects on fruit set on J. curcas. Scan sampling method were carried out to explore the insect pollinators diversity from 07.00 up to 17.00 h in every 15 minutes. Visiting frequency of pollinators insects were observed by using focal sampling. Those information together with flowering periods, flower nectar volumes, and environmental factors were used as the basic data to determine the effectiveness of insect pollination both in covered and uncovered of seed set plants. Results showed that nine species of insect pollinators were from three order (Hymenoptera, Lepidotera, and Diptera) pollinated J. curcas. Four species of Hymenoptera i.e. Prenolepis, Apis dorsata, Xylocopa confusa, and Apis cerana showed the highest abundances. The highest abundance and species richness of pollinators occurred at 08.00-10.15 and 15.00-17.15 h. Bees of X. confusa, A. cerana, and A. dorsata of Apidae are effective as insect pollinators in J. curcas plantations, due to high visited frequencies. The insect pollinators also increased fruits and seeds set of J. curcas in the uncovered experiment plants. Thereby, enhancement the three pollinator insects as part of crop management have to be considered by farmers.