[Mammalogy • 2023] Miniopterus srinii • A New Species of the Miniopterus australis Species Complex (Chiroptera: Miniopteridae) from the Western Ghats, India

 

Miniopterus srinii 

B. Srinivasulu & A. Srinivasulu, 2023

Srini’s Bent-winged Bat  || DOI:  10.11646/zootaxa.5296.2.5 

 facebook.com/bharisrini 

Abstract

The genus Miniopterus is highly diverse in cryptic species. Based on integrated approaches of morphometrics, echolocation call analysis, and molecular phylogenetics, we present evidence of a hitherto undescribed species, Srini’s Bent-winged bat Miniopterus srinii sp. nov.. The new species, found in the Western Ghats of southern Karnataka, India, closely resembles the Small Bent-winged bat Miniopterus pusillus, found elsewhere in Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, India. Although it shows external similarity with Miniopterus pusillus sensu stricto from the Nicobar Islands, the new species is relatively larger and distinct in craniodental measurements and echolocation call parameters, despite slight overlaps. Importantly, Miniopterus srinii exhibits morphological convergence with Miniopterus pusillus as despite similarities in morphologies, there is a significant genetic distance of 10.84 ± 0.22%. The new cryptic species shares distribution with Miniopterus phillipsi and Miniopterus pusillus in the Western Ghats, further highlighting the need to study both the genus’ cryptic diversity, and the region’s conservation importance.

 

Keywords: Mammalia, New species, taxonomy, morphology, molecular phylogeny, Miniopterus, cryptic species

Bhargavi Srinivasulu and Aditya Srinivasulu. 2023. A New Species of the Miniopterus australis Species Complex (Chiroptera: Miniopteridae) from the Western Ghats, India. Zootaxa. 5296(2); 233-249. DOI:  10.11646/zootaxa.5296.2.5

  facebook.com/bharisrini/posts/10230266832443120

 facebook.com/hyd2masawa/posts/10161204852044407

[Mammalogy • 2022] Miniopterus phillipsi • DNA Barcoding and Morphological Analyses Reveal A Cryptic Species of Miniopterus (Chiroptera: Miniopteridae) from India and Sri Lanka

Miniopterus phillipsi 

 Kusuminda, Mannakkara, Ukuwela, Kruskop, Amarasinghe, Saikia, Venugopal, Karunarathna, Gamage, Ruedi, Csorba, Yapa & Patterson, 2022

DOI: 10.3161/15081109ACC2022.24.1.001 

 twitter.com/KanishkaUku 

Abstract

The genus Miniopterus is a monophyletic assemblage of many species characterized by remarkably conservative morphology. The number of recognized species has more than doubled over the last two decades, mainly with newly recognized Afrotropical and Malagasy species. A molecular phylogenetic analysis based on cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) revealed a monophyletic clade of Miniopterus from Sri Lanka and southern India that is distinct from the other known taxa of this genus. The mean uncorrected pairwise sequence divergence among the three gene sequences of this new Miniopterus lineage was 0.83% (range 0.4–1.2%) and between this and other sampled taxa was 12.7% (range 8.5–15.9%). This lineage was also distinctive in craniodental morphometrics and hence it is herein described as a new species. The newly described species is easily distinguished by its external and cranial dimensions from its smaller (M. pusillus) and larger (M. magnater) congeners in India and Sri Lanka. It is also somewhat smaller than M. fuliginosus in both external and cranial dimensions. This is the first description of a new Miniopterus species from Asia in six decades and from India and Sri Lanka in eight decades. Our study highlights the importance of using both genetic and morphometric analyses in taxonomic studies on South Asian bats.

KEYWORDS: cryptic species, cytochrome oxidase 1, DNA barcode, Miniopteridae, Morphometrics, South Asia, taxonomy

 

Portrait of Miniopterus phillipsi sp. nov. NMSL 2021.03.02.NH

Family Miniopteridae Dobson, 1875

Genus Miniopterus Bonaparte, 1837

Miniopterus phillipsi sp. nov.

Phillips's Long fingered Bat

Synonymy: 

Miniopterus schreibersii Blanford, 1891 (in part): not Vespertilio schreibersii Kuhl, 1817.

Miniopterus fuliginosus Tian et al., 2004 (in part): not Vespertilio fuliginosus Hodgson, 1835.

Diagnosis: Miniopterus phillipsi sp. nov. is distinguished by its intermediate size from both smaller and larger congeners in India and Sri Lanka. M. pusillus is much smaller than M. phillipsi sp. nov. in the external measurements TIB (< 18 mm), FA (< 43 mm), d3m (< 40 mm), d4m (< 38 mm) and d5m (< 36 mm) and in skull length (GSKL < 14.7 mm). M. phillipsi sp. nov. is distinguished from M. magnater by the latter's larger external measurements (HB > 56 mm and d3m > 46 mm) and skull size (GLSK > 16.4 mm — Tables 3 and 4). The new species is generally smaller than M. fuliginosus in both external and cranial dimensions, although there is slight overlap (Figs. 5–7). There are significant differences between M. phillipsi sp. nov. and M. fuliginosus in GSKL (P < 0.001), ZYW (P = 0.026), MAW (P < 0.001), BCW (P = 0.046), LW (P = 0.001), ML (P = 0.001), M3–M3 (P = 0.002), C–M3 (P = 0.002), I1–M3 (P = 0.001) and i1–m3 (P < 0.001). In all of these craniodental characters, M. fuliginosus is larger than M. phillipsi sp. nov. (Tables 4 and 5). Miniopterus phillipsi sp. nov. also differs significantly from M. fuliginosus in the ratio of tibia to forearm length (TIB/FA; P = 0.002) and the ratio of second phalanx of third digit to third metacarpal (d3mp2/d3m; P = 0.023). In M. phillipsi sp. nov., TIB/FA ratio is usually higher (median: 42.16%, range: 41.1–43.9%) than in M. fuliginosus (40.78%, 39.6–42.1%), whereas d3mp2/d3m ratio is lower (83.27%, 79.3–90.4% versus 88.55%, 81.6–90.9%, respectively). The tragus of M. phillipsi sp. nov. is medium-sized in both length and width. The tragus of M. magnater is longer, broader, and more pointed towards the tip than the other three species in India and Sri Lanka. The middle of the tragus is much broader than its base and tip in M. magnater (slightly broader in M. phillipsi sp. nov.). The tragus of M. fuliginosus has parallel margins along most of its length, as does that of M. pusillus. However, the tragus of M. pusillus is shorter in length and barely curved forward compared to the other three species (Fig. 8).

 Etymology: This species is named after W. W. A. Phillips (William Watt Addison Phillips, 1892–1981) in recognition of his immense contributions to studies on the mammals of Sri Lanka and South Asia. Phillips was born and grew up in England and he was a nature lover since his childhood. He was a tea planter by profession and came to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1911.

 

Tharaka Kusuminda, Amani Mannakkara, Kanishka D. B. Ukuwela, Sergei V. Kruskop, Chamara J. Amarasinghe, Uttam Saikia, Parvathy Venugopal, Mathisha Karunarathna, Rajika Gamage, Manuel Ruedi, Gábor Csorba, Wipula B. Yapa and Bruce D. Patterson. 2022. DNA Barcoding and Morphological Analyses Reveal A Cryptic Species of Miniopterus from India and Sri Lanka. Acta Chiropterologica. 24(1);1-17. DOI: 10.3161/15081109ACC2022.24.1.001

  twitter.com/KanishkaUku/status/1560878985818476545

[Mammalogy • 2020] Miniopterus wilsoni • Cryptic Diversity in the Genus Miniopterus with the Description of A New Species from southern Africa

Miniopterus wilsoni 

Monadjem, Guyton, Naskrecki, Richards, Kropff & Dalton, 2020.

DOI: 10.3161/15081109ACC2020.22.1.001 

 half-earthproject.org 

photos: Piotr Naskrecki facebook.com/PiotrNaskrecki

Species richness in the genus Miniopterus has been greatly under-reported, with a large number of taxa having been discovered and described in the past two decades. Using molecular, standard morphometrics and acoustic data, we present evidence for the existence of a new species in Mozambique and neighbouring Malawi. Based on cytochrome b (cyt b) and cytochrome oxidase I (COI), the new species is sister to M. minor, from which it is readily distinguishable by its larger size (including non-overlapping forearm measurements, allowing separation in the field). It is distinguishable from sympatric M. mossambicus, itself a newly described taxon from Mozambique, by forearm measurements and a peach-orange wash to the skin around the eyes. In external appearance, it is most similar to M. fraterculus, from which it is only reliably identifiable by multivariate analysis of craniodental features and by a genetic distance of 6.4% in the cyt b gene; the two species also occupy widely differing geographic ranges. The type locality of the new species is Mount Gorongosa, and all known records are from large mountains in central and northern Mozambique and southern Malawi. Further research is required to establish its geographic range and understand its basic ecology. Considering its relatively restricted distribution to threatened montane habitats, we suggest that its global conservation status be urgently assessed. 

Key words: cryptic species, Miniopteridae, cytochrome b, morphometrics, taxonomy, Mozambique

Miniopterus wilsoni sp. nov. — in flight showing typical features of the genus; the peach-orange wash to the face of this species is not obvious in this photograph (holotype, JAG 444)

  (photographs by Piotr Naskrecki)

Family Miniopteridae Dobson 1875 

Genus Miniopterus Bonaparte 1837 

Miniopterus wilsoni sp. nov. 

Wilson’s Long-fingered Bat

Etymology: This species is named after Edward O. Wilson who has supported and facilitated biodiversity research at Gorongosa National Park over the past decade.

 

Ara Monadjem, Jen Guyton, Piotr Naskrecki, Leigh R. Richards, Anna S. Kropff and Desire L. Dalton. 2020. Cryptic Diversity in the Genus Miniopterus with the Description of A New Species from southern Africa. Acta Chiropterologica. 22(1); 1–19. DOI: 10.3161/15081109ACC2020.22.1.001

half-earthproject.org/newly-discovered-bat-species-named-for-e-o-wilson/

facebook.com/PiotrNaskrecki/posts/3477486408929241

facebook.com/luishenriquewildlife/posts/3151488231555001

[Mammalogy • 2020] Miniopterus nimbae • Systematics of West African Miniopterus with the Description of A New Species

Miniopterus nimbae

Monadjem, Shapiro, Richards, Karabulut, Crawley, Nielsen, Hansen, Bohmann & Mourier, 2020

DOI: 10.3161/15081109ACC2019.21.2.001  

 twitter.com/JulieTheBatgirl

Abstract

The phylogenetic relationships and species limits within the chiropteran family Miniopteridae are poorly known in mainland Africa. Recent systematic studies in Madagascar have shown that this is a species-rich family, yet only eight species are currently recognized or hypothesized for continental Africa. Based on partial cytochrome b sequences and morphometric analysis, we describe a new species of Miniopterus that is endemic to a restricted, montane region of Liberia and Guinea. Furthermore, the taxonomic status of the West African Miniopterus schreibersii villiersi is resolved and shown to be a distinct species, M. villiersi, that is not closely related to M. schreibersii. Finally, the species M. inflatus is revealed to be paraphyletic, with the central African rainforest populations apparently not closely related to the savanna forms in eastern and southern Africa. Based on the results of this study, the number of Miniopterus species in Africa has increased from eight to 11, with more cryptic species likely to be discovered.

Miniopterus nimbae

Ara Monadjem, Julie T. Shapiro, Leigh R. Richards, Hatice Karabulut, Wing Crawley, Ida Broman Nielsen, Anders Hansen, Kristine Bohmann and Tobias Mourier. 2020. Systematics of West African Miniopterus with the Description of A New Species. Acta Chiropterologica. 21(2); 237-256. DOI: 10.3161/15081109ACC2019.21.2.001  

 twitter.com/JulieTheBatgirl/status/1234835164112572417