BALIKTANAW - Kasaysayan at Kalikasan Webinar: Prof. Phillip A. Alviola & Prof. Judeline C. Dimalibot
Channel: UPLB MNH
Date: 30/06/2021

Video recording of the Baliktanaw: Kasaysayan at Kalikasan Webinar (30 June 2021) on "Mamiferos terrestres conocidos de Filipinas: Philippine mammalian expeditions during the Spanish colonial period" by Prof. Phillip A. Alviola and Prof. Judeline C. Dimalibot, Curators, UPLB Museum of Natural History of the UPLB Museum of Natural History.

TALK SUMMARY

"This talk will provide a detailed timeline of explorations in the Philippines during the Spanish Colonial Period which resulted in discoveries of several mammalian species. The account starts with the chronicles of the wild mammals Antonio Pigafetta saw and recorded during their ill-fated voyage to the Philippines in 1521 led by Ferdinand Magellan. Mammal records during the 1600s up to the 1800s were almost non-existent except for published observations by Georg Joseph Kamel in 1699 of tarsiers and the apparent existence of elephants in Jolo Island. By 1758, even with the publication of Systemae Naturae by Carolus Linnaeus, only two species of mammals were officially known in the Philippines - the Philippine flying lemur and the Philippine tarsier. An exponential surge in mammal exploration and discoveries started in 1830 and continued unabated for much of the 1800s. Close to 150 islands and localities were explored during this period of the “Great Mammalian Discovery”. Among the most notable explorations during the period were by Hugh Cuming when he visited the Philippines from 1836 to 1845 and added 25 species of mammals known for the archipelago. Substantial mammal collections were also made by Fedor Jagor from 1859-61 (with 8 new bat species as described by Wilhelm Peters), Alfred Everett from 1876-79, and Joseph Steere from 1887-90. The end of the 1800s (and the end of the Spanish Colonial Period) was highlighted by the discovery of John Whitehead of at least 15 new species and nine new genera of mammals (as described by Oldfield Thomas of the British Museum), most of which are found nowhere else in the world. In summary, at least 81 terrestrial mammal species (valid) were either collected and/or described during the Spanish Colonial Period, and 51 of these species designate the Philippines as the type locality."

Baliktanaw: Kasaysayan at Kalikasan Webinar is a component of the University of the Philippines System/University of the Philippines Los Baños "Gahum sa Buut" Quincentennial Commemoration activities.

No copyright infringement intended. Music used during the start of the webinar is a material endorsed for sharing and promotion by the National Quincentennial Committee Philippines in activities which are contributory to the whole Quincentennial Commemorations in 2021.

------------
"BAGANI Quincentennial Theme Song (Housewarming/Background Music)"
https://youtu.be/9_CKskcnCr0

Arrangement: Joel Cruz
Conducted by: Maestro Jiovanni Tabada
Produced by: The Cebu Philharmonic Orchestra