MythscribeMundus
THE NATURAL & IMAGINED WORLDAn illustrated compendium
NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

Palawan Pangolin

Manis culionensis (de Elera, 1915)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

An adult Philippine Pangolin and her pup photographed in the forests of Palawan by Gregg Yan.

An adult Philippine Pangolin and her pup photographed in the forests of Palawan by Gregg Yan.

Shukran888 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Image source

Provider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.

Open encyclopedia reference

The Philippine pangolin or Palawan pangolin (Manis culionensis), also locally known as balintong, is a pangolin species endemic to the Palawan province of the Philippines. Its habitat includes primary and secondary forests, as well as surrounding grasslands. This species is moderately common within its limited range, but is at risk due to heavy hunting because of its valued scales and meat. This species is distinguished from the closely related Sunda pangolin by its smaller body-to-tail ratio, smaller scales, and a shorter head. It is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN, and Critically Endangered by the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD).

Wikipedia contributors, Philippine pangolin; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T05:19:57.910104+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Manis culionensis (de Elera, 1915)
Name authority
(de Elera, 1915)
Common name
Palawan Pangolin
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Mammalia
Order
Pholidota
Family
Manidae
Genus
Manis
Extinction status
Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. megaclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
  9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
  10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
  11. orderPholidota Weber, 1904
  12. familyManidae Gray, 1821
  13. subfamilyManinae Gray, 1821
  14. genusManis Linnaeus, 1758
  15. speciesManis culionensis (de Elera, 1915)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Manis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Indian PangolinManis crassicaudata É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803ManidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Indo-Burmese PangolinManis indoburmanica Wangmo, Ghosh, Dolker, Joshi, Sharma & Thakur, 2025ManidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Malayan PangolinManis javanica Desmarest, 1822ManidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant
Chinese PangolinManis pentadactyla Linnaeus, 1758ManidaeChordataAccepted speciesRecorded extant

Browse 7 records assigned to Manidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded nameSource status
Manis culionensis (de Elera, 1895) (de Elera, 1895)synonym
Pholidotus culionensis de Elera, 1915 de Elera, 1915synonym

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Southern Asia

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

  1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=727709 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3XVJM. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.