Actually, only two pangolin species occur naturally in China, namely the Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) and the Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica). The Sunda pangolin was found to occur naturally in Yunnan, China, but only with a narrow distribution in the Xishuangbanna and Pu'er City. The Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) did not occur in China. The previous claim that this species is naturally distributed in China was found to originate from a mistake in the book "The Mammals of China and Mongolia" written by Allen in 1938.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Cen et al. (2022) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: