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Marcus Chua

@marcuschua.bsky.social
109 followers 64 following 99 posts

Studies and curates mammals of SE Asia. Biodiversity, conservation, and natural history museums. Also swims, hifi, and ramen. Same handle on the x-bird app. 🇸🇬 sites.google.com/view/marcuschua

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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Cassatt-Johnstone et al. demonstrate using paleo genomics that the extinct "American cheetah" was not a cheetah, but more like a generalist puma. Some ate a lot of fish! www.cell.com/current-biol...
cell.com
Range and diet diversity in the Pleistocene American “cheetah,” Miracinonyx trumani
Cassatt-Johnstone et al. use paleogenomics to show that extinct American cheetahs were most closely related to pumas, not cheetahs. These cats ranged far into the Arctic and exploited aquatic prey, th...
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Nerding out on these twin papers using neat science to overturn traditional beliefs about animals: @weisbeckerbblab.bsky.social et al. show morphology isn't dead and the thylacine has a chimeric skull that's more snap predator than sheep-killing-marsupial wolf. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Skull morphology of the extinct Tasmanian tiger suggests unique biting style - Nature Communications
The recently extinct thylacine was Australia’s largest marsupial predator and famously likened to dog-family carnivorans such as wolves. However, here the authors show that its skull functioned differ...
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Reposted by Marcus Chua
Ng Ting Hui @siputairtawar.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Enjoyed listening to kancil stories by @marcuschua.bsky.social #SAGE2026
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Headed to Kunming’s Natural History Museum of Zoology after to study some mouse-deer and civets after. But not without some remarkable fossils along the way.
WIPMasked palm civet. All my Chinese lessons culminated to this moment. Trying to out sing this pre-bird.Myllokunmingia—the first fish.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
#ATBC2026 was a lot of fun. Especially with friends. Beyond the presentations, it was replete with wild mushrooms, ice cream and wildlife.
Night walk in a nearby forest Do not sway Midcanopy Heading up the Bubeng forest canopy crane.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
"To be conservation-relevant, camera-trapping applications must move beyond solely gaining biological understanding towards supporting management decisions that could shift a system to a more desirable state."
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
Hear hear: From snapshots to solutions: making camera-trap monitoring matter for conservation "We must distinguish between monitoring intended to trigger immediate action and monitoring intended to serve as a biodiversity inventory or a baseline for future generations." doi.org/10.1093/bios...
doi.org
From snapshots to solutions: making camera-trap monitoring matter for conservation
Monitoring is fundamental to conservation, providing the vital data required to track progress against national and international biodiversity targets (Ben
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Day 2 #ATBC2026 summary: Saw a bunch of cool talks, moderated mammal talks, gave my talk. Trusty fan kept me alive in swampy venues. Then: mushroom hotpot! 12 species of fungi native to China. Really interesting textures and umami. And night cap of mushroom ice cream.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Day 2 #ATBC2026 I’ll be moderating the symposium on Movement, foraging, and coexistence in tropical mammals at MR4, 1:15 pm. Also happen to be a presenting there at 2:15 pm about greater mouse-deer population spike after forest recovery and African Swine Fever outbreak.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Post #ATBC2026 opening scenes: New fungi unlocked: “tree flower” served during dinner. Kinda nutty and earthy. Delicious. Clavariaceae according to Baidu. Me fighting for my life trying to read Chinese to buy ice cream. Dark chocolate. Pretty good. 📷: Tze Kwan Fung
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Opening of @theATBC 62th annual meeting at Xishuangbanna, China. Some 1,000 participants from all over the world focused on tropical biology and conservation. I like that there’s no plastic casing for the tag. Instead it’s a pulp card that can sprout flowers. #ATBC2026
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Still reeling from the wonderful trip back to Washington DC, hanging out with mammalogists and friends and all the noshes I’ve missed. And a week later it’s time to go to Yunnan, China for a meeting of tropical biologists. Can’t wait.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
However tracked bobcats appear to avoid major roads. And few bobcats actually use crossing structures. In fact, their behavior is hardly changed by roads. Hence, reducing mortality such as reducing speed limit and fencing should be more effective for bobcat conservation than structures.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Learning from other @Mammalogists about spatial management & infrastructure conflicts. @jessealston.bsky.social: Current strategies to reduce road kills for bobcats: - Road signs - Manage vegetation next to road - Road calming measures - Fences - Crossings
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Late start for the @mammalogists.bsky.social #ASM2026 meeting this morning. Went out for a walk by the waterfront and saw some marine mammals and an enormous carrier. Prepping my talk for the community structure, niche overlap & coexistence session at 1:45 pm!
Marine mammal?Lovely marine mammal mural
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Day 1 @Mammalogists #ASM2026 went by in a blink of an eye. Most striking slide by Daniel Chavez: the twisted impact of colonization on Latin American fauna, increasing effective pop. size! Also hands on with the incredibly well-made @wildlifeacoustics.com SM5BAT (a cool $1,049 RRP!).
Increase in effective population size of puma after European colonization.Incredibly well-made SM5BAT.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
One of the highlights while working there was when museum specialist Megan Viera dangled this male hammer-headed bat skull in front of me and allowed me to hold it. The huge head and larynx of the bat act as a sound machine, amplifying their honking calls. What a marvel.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
The mercury hit a sweltering 36°C (97°F) at Norfolk, Virginia where Mammalogists are having their annual #ASM2026 meeting. It’s so bad that even the resident grey squirrel is splooting to thermoregulate.
Grey squirrel splooting
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Back in the DC area for the American Society of Mammalogists meeting #ASM2026. This past week has been a hectic non-stop cycle of otters, civets, and otter civets at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
OttersCivetsOtter civets!
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
We were taught how to be first responders during a stranding event as part of the workshop—in a water theme park wave pool for realism. Could’ve been useful here. Or if one of the world’s greatest gathering of experts could have examined the carcass and provided some wisdom. 🫠
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Some kind of grand irony that a dugong stranded in Singapore a day after the marine mammal stranding workshop. www.straitstimes.com/singapore/en...
straitstimes.com
Dead dugong found at Bedok Jetty
Discover the first recorded sighting of a dead dugong at Bedok Jetty since 2021, highlighting the vulnerability of this marine mammal. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Stranders can have good body scores but necropsy shows many are compromised by human-caused trauma: - noise - chemical pollutants - pathogens - dynamite fishing Based on trends, dugongs may not persist because of high stranding rate. Calls for partnerships and solutions.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
At the Asian Marine Mammal Stranding Network symposium and workshop. Keynote by Lemnuel Aragones highlighted the increasing trend of marine mammal stranding in Asia. A high proportion (vs. world average; 5–15%) are live stranding—80% in 🇵🇭.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
We ID-ed the whale using DNA and skull features, and estimate it was a subadult male ~10.6m long. Injuries point to ship strikes. A sobering finding in one of the world’s busiest port regions. @channelnewsasia.bsky.social has a video on why this discovery matters. www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy08...
youtube.com
Omura's whale carcass found in Singapore last year sheds light on lesser-known species
YouTube video by CNA
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
[New paper] A whale carcass found off Tanjong Pagar in September 2025 has been identified as an Omura’s whale—one of the world’s least-known baleen whales. This is Singapore’s first recorded stranding of the species. www.researchgate.net/publication/...
researchgate.net
(PDF) Biodiversity Record: Omura's whale carcass off Tanjong Pagar
PDF | The floating carcass of a rorqual whale was seen stranded along the pilings of a wharf at Tanjong Pagar Terminal. Six days later, on 12 September... | Find, read and cite all the research you ne...
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
How did I miss this: Camera-trap survey confirms the melanistic leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis in the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve by Jakher et al. (2025). What a pretty black and gold speckle! doi.org/10.1017/S003...
Melanistic leopard cat in the Sundarban Biosphere by Jakher et al. (2025).
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
I love this thing! I think it'll be great for bat outreach walks at the museum and am thinking of how to best use it for citizen science too.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Sadly, this Javan pipistrelle found with a huge distended abdomen did not survive even after veterinary care. She was initially thought to be pregnant, but necropsy showed her abdomen was filled with fluid. Honored her life by preparing her as a dry specimen. RIP little bat.
Photo by Emma Chao. Specimen pinned after skinning and stuffing.Dried museum study skin.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
First camera trap distance sampling study from Indonesia. Beno et al. estimated densities of tiger prey, and also compared species detections between random (for CTDS) and systematic grid camera trap placements. Random placement missed most carnivorans! doi.org/10.1002/wlb3...
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
Attended an exhibition by Drama Box: There is No Tiger in the Mountain. It’s about human-macaque interaction and co-existence on Pulau Ubin and uses the island as a canvas, with a mobile exhibit (Ubin taxi) and soft sculptures around a village house. www.dramabox.org/eng/events-t...
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
I don't usually post zoo science but here's a cool study finding long-term survival gains in big cats (lion, tiger, snow leopard, leopard, jaguar) under ex situ care since 1874. Authors looked at life expectancy, lifespan equality at birth, and 1st year survival. doi.org/10.1016/j.bi...
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
The contrast makes it look like a tiny burrito.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Yes, I was alerted to it by a helpful member of the public. Amazing for a large mammal a tiny city!
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Malayan tapir!
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
The oldest known wild Sunda clouded leopard is a 6.51-year-old female! Similar to the oldest known mainland leopard cat too. Pretty neat what long-term camera trap studies can tell us. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Estimating Sunda Clouded Leopard Lifespans From Minimum Residence Times via Long‐Term Photo‐Tracking
How long do Sunda clouded leopards live in the wild? Detectability challenges and transient behavior make this elusive species difficult to track. Based on compiled photographic records, we report th....
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
[Watch]: The people behind Singapore’s otter census. Also a lesson in sharing the science, stories, community engagement, and clear communication. 🎥: youtu.be/XdUnzBWD4JE
youtu.be
How do you count Singapore's wild otters?
YouTube video by CNA
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
How Singapore counts its population of world famous otters. Featuring Otterman @sivasothi.bsky.social and the Otter Working Group. www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/ot...
channelnewsasia.com
'It's detective work': Finding and counting Singapore's otters
More than 20 otter watchers trawled parks and waterways over two months, photographing the animals for the third population census in Singapore.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Lovely creative (and conservation focused) feature of horse-y wildlife in Singapore by Letitia Chen, Ang Qing and Lim Yong of the Straits Times for the Year of the🐎. Bonus points for the pun too. www.straitstimes.com/singapore/en...
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Cannot compare! 🦕💩
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Tribute to the largest poop I ever picked up on #NationalPoopDay It happened just this weekend, and belongs to a large wild odd-toed ungulate.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Thanks for the shout out Will!
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Installation art Ikan besar skali by Hu Qiren at the Esplanade until Jul 2026. It “reimagines the grandeur of historical whale displays, bridging natural history with contemporary art.” Metal-plated 3D printed resin. Neat.
Silver 3D printed whale skeleton suspended at the Esplanade Concorse.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
NUS study calls for reduced boat speeds, limited entry near S’pore marine mammal hot spots Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins and dugongs have endured in Singapore’s waters despite massive land reclamation since the 1800s and its status as a shipping hub. www.straitstimes.com/singapore/en...
straitstimes.com
NUS study calls for reduced boat speeds, limited entry near S’pore marine mammal hot spots
The study trawled through records from 1820 to 2024. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
Lovely coverage of our research findings of mouse-deer population spike after African Swine Fever wild pig mortality in Singapore by @mongabay.com's Carolyn Cowan! news.mongabay.com/2025/12/refo...
news.mongabay.com
Reforestation and wild pig decline spark surge in miniature deer in Singapore
Rabbit-sized, nocturnal and elusive, the greater mouse-deer hadn’t been seen in Singapore for more than 80 years. Researchers long presumed it was locally extinct. In 2008, however, researchers confir...
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
It's a top 10 story for the Straits Times today!
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
Thanks Ang Qing for writing this news story on our research findings of mouse-deer population boom on Pulau Ubin after African Swine Fever all but wiped out wild pigs there. And kudos for getting Bill Laurance & Matt Luskin to comment on the findings. www.straitstimes.com/singapore/en...
straitstimes.com
How a fatal virus sparked Pulau Ubin’s mouse-deer boom
The island is now the easiest place in the world to encounter the greater mouse-deer. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
And I'm impressed she got Bill Laurance & Matt Luskin to comment on the findings.
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Methods tip: Transects are cheaper and more precise at high densities; camera traps cost more but detect rare/low-abundance species and run 24/7. This study was part of my PhD work advised by Haw Chuan Lim & collab with NParks. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
sciencedirect.com
Rapid population growth of greater mouse-deer after active forest restoration and African Swine Fever outbreak
Even as a highly urbanized city-state, Singapore has seen the recolonization of extirpated wildlife amidst habitat restoration efforts and ecological …
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Why it matters: Losing a dominant generalist (wild pig) can trigger ecological cascades—altered understory, seed dispersal and species interactions. We saw diet overlap (fallen 🌼) suggesting competition. Long-term monitoring of forest habitats is essential as wild pigs recover.
Seasonally rich food sources such as fallen Durio flowers from post succession fruit and rubber plantations attract greater mouse-deer (left) and wild pigs (right).
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Marcus Chua @marcuschua.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
15-year trend: mouse-deer encounter rates rose 2.4x from 2009→2019, then 5.5x from 2019→2024 post-ASF. Predicted densities: ~31/km2 (2009), ~67/km2 (2019), measured 293/km2 (2024). Wild pigs vanished from transects in 2024 but camera traps show re-establishment at ~30/km2.
Wild pigs and piglets.
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