Taki Monkey-faced Bat
Pteralopex taki Parnaby, 2002
Abstract
Morphological variation in the genus Pteralopex is reviewed to evaluate species limits and diagnostic criteria. Five species are recognised: P. atrata and P. pulchra from Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands;P. anceps from Bougainville and Buka Islands, Papua New Guinea, and Choiseul and Isabel Islands, Solomon Islands; and P. acrodonta from Taveuni, Fiji. A new species is described from New Georgia and Vangunu Islands, Solomon Islands. It resembles P. pulchra but differs in dental, cranial and pelage characters. A number of criteria previously considered diagnostic for P. anceps are shown to be invalid. The new species faces a high extinction risk from logging operations and pressure from expanding human populations, and an IUCN threat category of ‘Critically Endangered’ is proposed. All Pteralopex species face a high risk of extinction and conservation measures such as habitat protection are urgently required.
Key words: fruit bat, Megachiroptera, monkey-faced bat, Pteralopex anceps, Pteralopex atrata, Pteralopex pulchra, Pteralopex acrodonta, Pteralopex taki, new species, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, taxonomy, conservation status.
Abstract
Morphological variation in the genus Pteralopex is reviewed to evaluate species limits and diagnostic criteria. Five species are recognised: P. atrata and P. pulchra from Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands;P. anceps from Bougainville and Buka Islands, Papua New Guinea, and Choiseul and Isabel Islands, Solomon Islands; and P. acrodonta from Taveuni, Fiji. A new species is described from New Georgia and Vangunu Islands, Solomon Islands. It resembles P. pulchra but differs in dental, cranial and pelage characters. A number of criteria previously considered diagnostic for P. anceps are shown to be invalid. The new species faces a high extinction risk from logging operations and pressure from expanding human populations, and an IUCN threat category of ‘Critically Endangered’ is proposed. All Pteralopex species face a high risk of extinction and conservation measures such as habitat protection are urgently required.
Key words: fruit bat, Megachiroptera, monkey-faced bat, Pteralopex anceps, Pteralopex atrata, Pteralopex pulchra, Pteralopex acrodonta, Pteralopex taki, new species, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, taxonomy, conservation status.
New Georgia Island, Vangunu Island, Solomon Islands. Apparently locally extinct on Kolombangara Island following logging operations from 1966 to 1980
Parnaby, H. E. 2002. A taxonomic review of the genus Pteralopex (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae), the Monkey-faced Bats of the South-western Pacific. Australian Mammalogy. 23: 145-162.
http://www.planet-mammiferes.org/drupal/en/node/75?new=&class=13
http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=AM01145.pdf
Parnaby, H. E. 2002. A taxonomic review of the genus Pteralopex (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae), the Monkey-faced Bats of the South-western Pacific. Australian Mammalogy. 23: 145-162.
http://www.planet-mammiferes.org/drupal/en/node/75?new=&class=13
http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=AM01145.pdf
