#badlit

Badlit for breakfast! 

Been practicing Badlit or Suwat Binisaya lately. A cousin to Baybayin, Badlit was used to write in Bisaya languages. 

What is making all the noise in the forests of Dinagat island… or what is left of them?

The Dinagat Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat, 𝘾𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙮𝙨 𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨, can only be found on one single island in the whole world - Dinagat Island in Northeast Mindanao!

Also called Buot, a name shared with other small mammals on the island, they were thought to be extinct forever since 1975. Thankfully a local farmer spotted one in 2011, which was confirmed by researchers in 2012 (Řeháková 2015). Buot seem to love going out at night, making noise as they move about in the trees. And they’re beautiful - sometimes with orange or reddish-brown fur, and with long black and white tails!

If you hear rustling noises at night this Undas and Halloween, don’t worry, it might be a good sign biodiversity is alive.

The true fear, is losing them forever 🪦

References and art links

Free coloring page: https://phwildlifeart.gumroad.com/l/dinagat-bushy-tailed-cloudrat-coloring-page

Artprint: https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/filipeanut/dinagat-bushy-tailed-cloudrat-crateromys-australis-with-badlit-or-suwat-bisaya/

You might remember another Dinagat species shared here a few weeks ago, the Dinagat hairy-tailed rat! https://philippinewildlife.art/portfolio/dinagat-hairy-tailed-rat/

Milada Řeháková et al 2015 - Rediscovery of the Dinagat Bushy-tailed Cloud Rat Crateromys australis (Musser, Heaney & Rabor, 1985) (Mammalia: Rodentia: Muridae) from Dinagat Island, Philippines https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307709920_Rediscovery_of_the_Dinagat_Bushy-tailed_Cloud_Rat_Crateromys_australis_Musser_Heaney_Rabor_1985_Mammalia_Rodentia_Muridae_from_Dinagat_Island_Philippines

Long rainy days of the typhoon season means it’s also time for our local SOUPer heroes. Here are 6 soup suggestions to help fight colds, wet commutes, or to help melt the clouds away in our own minds.

Bisaya halang-halang brings spice, lemongrass, and coconut milk to our lives. Batsoy from Iloilo and Kinalas from Bicol brings us rich, meaty, noodle soups. Tiyula itum from Tausug and Muslim cooks brings us unique flavors from Southern Mindanao, while Luzon’s Tinola and Sinigang make a vegetable-rich soup duo, full of varying shades of green and spice. The names of these soups are illustrated with their names either in Badlit from the Visayas, Basahan from Bicol, or Tagalog Baybayin.

Wherever you are never forget: rain or shine, its sabaw time.

Somewhere on a single island an “ancient cloud rat” says hello!

The Dinagat hairy-tailed rat or 𝘉𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘺𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴 is one of 18 “cloud rats” found only in the Philippines, and this species can only be found on Dinagat Island.

We like to call it the “ancient temple” of Dinagat, because in its “temple” or head might be an ancient arrangement of blood vessels unique to mouse species that were around a long time ago. Scientists like G Musser et al in 1998 called it a "primative cephalic arterial pattern”.

This tells us that unlike many living mouse species, the Dinagat hairy-tailed rat could be a “living fossil”- and can give us a window to the ancient past of many mice and rats today.

Unfortunately mining occurs on Dinagat Island, threatening other island endemics including another cloud rat: the Dinagat Bushy-tailed cloud rat (𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴).

Milada Řeháková-Petrů et al wrote in 2015 that the balance between “socio-economic development and longer-term biodiversity conservation” needs to be improved, and that “mineral resources of Dinagat are available elsewhere, but its biodiversity is unique!”

The script shown here is Badlit or Suwat Binisaya.

Say hello to some of our “rabbits of the sea” - rabbitfish!

Best known to us as buwad or daing, danggit (Bisaya) is an affordable and ancient ingredient harnessed for dried fish. Also known as samaral (Tagalog), kuyug (Batangueño), and kitong (Cebuano), they are not only one of our favorite fish to eat, they themselves love eating plants!

They are known as the ocean’s herbivores (van Beijnen, Yan 2019). Depending on the species and age, they eat different kinds of “vegetables” in the sea, from algae to seagrass (Fishbase). They also help control algae growth in our coral reefs (Mayuga 2023).

There are 28 known species of rabbitfish (FAO), all of them in the genus Siganus. The term “rabbitfish” goes back to the early 19th century in England (OEM), probably because the faces of danggit reminded them of rabbits in their country (though I have yet to confirm this).

Featured here is Badlit or Suwat Binisaya once again, for danggit!

References

Jonah van Beijnen and Gregg Yan 2019 - How a Filipino scientist is making headlines by culturing marine herbivores https://thefishsite.com/articles/how-a-filipino-scientist-is-making-headlines-by-culturing-marine-herbivores

Fishbase - Siganus fuscescens (Houttuyn, 1782) Mottled spinefoot https://www.fishbase.se/summary/siganus-fuscescens.html

Jonathan L. Mayuga, April 1, 2023 - ‘Kuyug’: Calatagan’s famous fish. https://businessmirror.com.ph/2023/04/01/kuyug-calatagans-famous-fish/

FAO. Rabbitfish farming in Asia. https://www.academia.edu/84005560/Rabbitfish_Farming_in_Asia_UN_FAO_2022_?auto=download

Download my latest font or typeface inspired by Philippine scripts: Badlit Rounded Uno!

I talk about its design, some history, and how you can type with it in my latest blog post. Download it free, and continue a long tradition of Filipino writing.