The genus Cynopterus, known as the short-nosed fruit bats or dog-faced fruit bats, is widely distributed throughout the Indo-Malayan region of Southeast Asia. Discriminating between species in this genus is rather difficult, and is further complicated by the fact that many species represent a complex of species with lacking information regarding status and distribution. One such species is Cynopterus brachyotis which is represented by two forms: C. brachyotis and C. cf. brachyotis Forest. Differentiation between these 2 forms has typically depended on measures of forearm length, but as Jayaraj et al. (2012) point out, many researchers choose different length values as the cut-off between forms. Thus Jayaraj et al. developed a classification function based on detailed morphometric variation useful for discriminating between 2 forms of Cynopterus brachyotis. Results indicate that C. brachyotis can be identified based on its brown fur that has a pronounced yellowish or reddish tinge and a forearm length greater than 60 mm. Conversely, C. cf. brachyotis Forest has a smaller body size with duller coloration and a forearm length less than 60 mm. Of the 28 morphometrics characters examined, 5 were considered useful for validating identification of museum specimens: forearm length (RL), 3rd molar tooth crown width and length (M3W, M3L), and 3rd digit metacarpal length and 2nd phalanx length (D3MCL, D3P1L). Jayaraj et al. conclude that the 2 forms of C. brachyotis are morphologically distinct, which is congruent with previous results using molecular methods.
Jayarak, V.K, Laman, C.J. and M.T. Abdullah. 2012. A predictive model to differentiate the fruit bats Cynopterus brachyotis and C. cf. brachyotis Forest (Chiroptera: Pteorpididae) from Malaysia using multivariate analysis. Zoological Studies 51: 259-271.
 Jayaraj et al. 2012 model for C brachyotis.pdf | [ ] | 531 Kb |
Congratulations to Vu Dinh and his co-authors on the description of new Hipposideros species from Vietnam. This new cryptic species from the armiger-species group, H. griffini is similar to H. armiger in its external characteristics but appears to have higher echolocation frequencies (76.6 to 79.2 kHz) compared to those of H. armiger (64.7–68.8 kHz). Hipposideros griffini also can be generally distinguished based on its smaller body size, craniodental, skull and teeth compared to H. armiger. Presently, H. griffini is only known from two disjunct localities in Vietnam: Cat Ba National Park, Cat Hai District, and Chu Mom Ray National Park, Kon Tum Province. The former is situated on an offshore island in northern Vietnam and the latter on the mainland Vietnam. Both, H. armiger and H. griffini can be found in sympatry in Vietnam. This further highlights the importance of incorporating multiple datasets such as morphology, echolocation and genetics in discovering cryptic bat species in Southeast Asia.
A new species of Hipposideros (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae) from Vietnam
Author(s): Vu Dinh Thong, Sebastien J. Puechmaille, Annette Denzinger, Christian Dietz, Gabor Csorba,
Paul J. J. Bates, Emma C. Teeling, and Hans-Ulrich Schnitzler
Journal of Mammalogy, 93(1):1-11. 2012.
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A recent study on the zoogeography of fruit bats (family Pteropodidae), insectivorous bats, and rats (order Rodentia: family Muridae) in Indonesia is published by Ibnu Maryanto and Seigo Higashi in Treubia. The researchers analyze biogeographic patterns of the three most specious mammalian groups, reviewing museum collections and literature records of 428 species across the Indo-Australian Archipelago. The paper provides detailed descriptions of species distributions, the effects of island size on diversity, and the zoogeographic boundaries of each taxa. Their results suggest that mobility plays a significant role in the diversity of the three taxa on islands in this region. Species compositions of highly-mobile bats are less restricted by geographic barriers; therefore, the island size has a positive effect on the local species richness of both trophic groups. In contrast, the restrictions of geographic barriers confound the diversity of less-mobile rodents on islands, reducing the relationship between island size and diversity across the region.
Ibnu Maryanto and Seigo Higashi (2011). Comparison of zoogeography among rats, fruit bats and insectivorous bats on Indonesia islands. Treubia, 38: 33-52.
| Maryanto and Higashi Zoogeography.pdf | [ ] | 1536 Kb |
As many of us have found, the Hipposideridae can be a complicated, if not irritating family to work with, and the molecular phylogeny from Susan Murray and colleagues just published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution reveals the extent of paraphyly and polyphyly within many currently recognized Hipposideros species. Analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear sequence data did however provide strong support for monophyly of Hipposideros and the four major clades recovered were generally concordant with Hill’s classification scheme of species groups.
Read more: New molecular phylogeny for SE Asian hipposiderids
The Cambodian bat fauna is one of the least well-known in the region, as is evidenced by the addition of seven new species to the country’s list in a recent publication from Ith Saveng and colleagues. The authors reviewed specimens collected from around the country over the last 11 years and confirmed the presence of Rhinolophus yunanensis, Hipposideros diadema, Saccolaimus saccolaimus, Myotis ater, M. horsfieldii, Murina cyclotis and Kerivoula picta, bringing the country’s total to 60 species. There remains much to do however, and the authors anticipate addition discoveries as survey effort expands and intensifies.