Ylin Island Cloud Rat - Philippine Wildlife Art

Siyang or Ilin Island Cloud Rat on a cloud with Mangyan script for Siyang. — The *Ylin Island Cloud Rat is known as Siyang by Mangyan groups in Mindoro. Siyang is written above in Hanunuo Mangyan script. Unfortunately a live specimen has yet to be found, so it is presumed extinct.

We all know about the 7,000 + islands of the Philippines. But each island continues to hold mysteries and surprises that have yet to be understood. One of them is the *Ylin Island Cloud Rat or Crateromys paulus.

Scientists first knew of its existence from one single individual found in the 1950’s. But it was only described in detail almost 30 years later! ¹

Scientists then examined bones and shells from excavations on Ylin island. Within these remains they found over 90 teeth fossils of the Ylin Island Cloud Rat. The teeth range from 500 years, to 11,000 years old ¹. That’s some old teeth! Despite our minimal understanding of the species, Indigenous Peoples in Mindoro have long referred to them as Siyang ².

Illustration of Ilin Island with mouse skull. — Scientists used teeth found in cave excavations on Ylin Island to determine the species.

Where have all the mammals gone?

Unfortunately, the Ylin Island Cloud Rat has yet to be found alive, so scientists think it went extinct only recently. Ylin island is now mostly coconut plantations with only patches of secondary forest. ¹

Mindoro, the larger island of which Ylin island is off the coast of, is also home to a larger mammal: the Tamaraw. Unfortunately the Tamaraw is on the Critically Endangered list ³ of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources or IUCN.

Though the Ylin Island Cloud Rat seems to be long gone, there is still hope for the remaining species of this genus, as well as other Cloud Rats on other islands; and even the Tamaraw. But researchers, Indigenous Peoples, and local governments need additional support.

How you can help

There are NGOs on Mindoro island working relentlessly to protect the Tamaraw, and other habitats on the island:

The Mindoro Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc. works in Mindoro conducting Tamaraw counts and working with communities and local governments for the conservation of species like the Ylin Cloud Rat. Ylin Island is one of the MBCFI’s Conservation Priority Areas. Learn more by donating or volunteering via their website.
The Haribon Foundation also works in Mindoro to conserve species such as the Mindoro Bleeding-heart and the Mindoro Tarictic Hornbill. Learn more by donating or volunteering via their website.

This artwork and research is dedicated to the late Danilo Balete

Danilo Balete was involved in the discovery of more than half of the known small mammals in the Philippines ⁴. Originally from Bicol, Balete introduced conservation measures on Mt. Isarog with the Haribon Foundation, and later worked on the Philippines mammal project of The Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois in the United States ⁵.

Danilo Balete passed away in 2017.

“It is extraordinary that so many new species of mammals remain to be discovered in the Philippines… In the past 10 years we’ve published formal descriptions of 10 other species, and other biologists have described five more. And we are nowhere close to the end of our discoveries. The Philippines may have the greatest concentration of unique species of animals of any country in the world.”
-Danilo Balete, in an article in the ScienceDaily, “Seven new species of mammals discovered on Luzon, Philippines” (2011).

Cloud Rats of the Philippines

Mt. Isarog hairy-tailed rat (Batomys uragon)
Large-toothed Batomys (Batomys dentatus)
Ylin Island Cloud Rat (Crateromys paulus)
Sierra Madre Tree-mouse (Musseromys anacuao)
Mt. Pulag Tree-mouse (Musseromys beneficus)
Mt. Banahaw tree-mouse (Musseromys gulantang)
Mt. Amuyao Tree-mouse (Musseromys inopinatus)
Brown-tailed dwarf cloud rat (Carpomys phaeurus)
See all of them here!

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