''Babyrousa bolabatuensis'', the Bola Batu babirusa, is a species of

babirusa The babirusas, also called deer-pigs (), are a genus, ''Babyrousa'', in the Suidae, swine family found in the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi, Togian Islands, Togian, Sula Islands, Sula and Buru. All members of this genus were considered part of a ...

from the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

n island of

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

. It was first described in 1950 as a

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

of ''

Babyrousa babyrussa The Buru babirusa (''Babyrousa babyrussa'') is a wild pig-like animal native to the Indonesian islands of Buru, the two Sula Islands of Mangole and Taliabu. It is also known as the Moluccan babirusa, golden babirusa or hairy babirusa. Tradit ...

'', then the only recognized species of babirusa, and raised to species rank by Colin Groves and Erik Meijaard in 2002. At present the Bola Batu babirusa is only known for certain from

subfossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

remains from the southern arm of

. Based on a single skull from central Sulawesi it has been suggested that babirusas from this part of Sulawesi represent an

extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Exta ...

population of the Bola Batu babirusa, and this was followed in the third edition of ''

Mammal Species of the World ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and Bibliographic database, bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, ...

''. However, the most recent major review also found similarities between the central Sulawesi specimen and the

Togian babirusa The Togian babirusa (''Babyrousa togeanensis''), also known as the Malenge babirusa, is the largest species of babirusa. It is endemic to the Togian Islands of Indonesia, but was considered a subspecies of '' Babyrousa babyrussa'' until 2002. Com ...

, leading them to conclude that it represents an undescribed

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

and that the taxonomic position of central Sulawesi babirusas only can be determined through additional specimens. Subfossil remains from the south-western arm of Sulawesi, where now likely extinct, have been classified as Bola Batu babirusas, but these were considered unclassifiable in 2002, as were extant populations from the eastern arm of Sulawesi and

Buton Buton (also Butung, Boeton or Button) is an island in Indonesia located off the southeast peninsula of Sulawesi. It covers roughly 4,727 square kilometers in area, or about the size of Madura; it is the 129th List of islands by area, largest is ...

due to the lack of specimens. Due to these uncertainties, the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

provisionally synonymized ''B. bolabatuensis'' under the northern Sulawesi species, '' B. celebensis'', pending clarification of the taxonomy of Sulawesi babirusas.

References

Literature cited

* * * * Mammals of Sulawesi Suidae Fossil taxa described in 1950 Endemic fauna of Indonesia {{Suidae-stub