[Mammalogy • 2017] Integrative Taxonomy of the Rhinolophus macrotis Complex (Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) in Vietnam and Nearby Regions

Figure 2. Portrait and noseleaf morphology of studied species of the philippinensis group collected in Vietnam. 
a—Rhinolophus paradoxolophus (NH2016-66, ♂); b—R. marshalli (IEBR.VN14-0212, ♂); c—R. cf. macrotis (IEBR.VN11-0261, ♂); d—R. cf. siamensis (IEBR.M-5353, ♂); e—R. cf. macrotis Phia Oac (IEBR - VTTu15.0028, ♂). Not to scale 

Tu, Hassanin, Görföl, et al, 2017. DOI: 10.1111/jzs.12169 

 Abstract

The taxonomic status of Rhinolophus macrotis sensu lato (s.l.) in Vietnam and adjacent territories remains problematic. To address this issue, we performed an integrated study of morphological, acoustic, and genetic characters of R. macrotis s.l. specimens and compared these with sympatric species within the philippinensis group (R. marshalli, R. paradoxolophus, and R. rex). Our results reveal that in addition to a cryptic species of R. macrotis previously found in Jiangxi and Jingmen, China, R. macrotis s.l. in continental Asia includes three further species, namely R. cf. siamensis, R. cf. macrotis, and R. cf. macrotis “Phia Oac.” These four taxa are distinguished from genuine R. macrotis in Nepal and R. siamensis in Thailand by their morphological and/or genetic features. Further taxonomic evaluation of the subspecies of R. macrotis s.l. is needed to determine their affinities with recently recognized cryptic species and to possibly describe new taxa. Our results also show that interspecific divergences in mitochondrial DNA sequences (Cytb and COI genes) among taxa within the philippinensis group (particularly between R. cf. siamensis/R. cf. macrotis and R. rex/R. paradoxolophus) are significantly lower than those of other morphological groups in the genus. These phylogenetic patterns might be explained by recent allopatric speciation or ancient introgression events among ancestors of the taxa during the Pleistocene. However, further investigations including genetic analyses of nuclear genes are needed to test the latter hypothesis.

Vuong Tan Tu, Alexandre Hassanin, Tamás Görföl, Satoru Arai, Dai Fukui, Hoang Trung Thanh, Nguyen Truong Son, Neil M. Furey and Gábor Csorba. 2017. Integrative Taxonomy of the Rhinolophus macrotis Complex (Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae) in Vietnam and Nearby Regions. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research.  DOI: 10.1111/jzs.12169   

 researchgate.net/publication/316648268_Integrative_taxonomy_of_the_Rhinolophus_macrotis_complex_Chiroptera_Rhinolophidae_in_Vietnam_and_nearby_regions

Morphological, acoustic, and genetic analyses on Rhinolophus macrotis complex and other taxa of the philippinensis group in Vietnam and nearby countries were conducted. Results show that the complex includes several distinct species which are distinguishable from genuine R. macrotis and R. siamensis by morphological and/or genetic features. Interspecific divergences in mtDNA sequences among taxa in the philippinensis group are surprisingly low and can be explained by recent allopatric speciation or ancient introgression events during the Pleistocene.

[Mammalogy • 2017] A Taxonomic Revision of the Kerivoula hardwickii complex (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) with the Description of A New Species, Kerivoula furva, from Taiwan

 Kerivoula furva 

Kuo, Soisook, Ho, Csorba, Wang & Rossiter, 2017

DOI: 10.3161/15081109ACC2017.19.1.002 

Abstract

Since its discovery, the taxonomic status of the only species of Kerivoula (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae: Kerivoulinae) to be found on Taiwan has been confused. Previous studies have assigned this species to either Kerivoula hardwickii or K. titania, both of which occur on continental SE Asia. This uncertainty supports repeated suggestions in the literature that specimens of K. hardwickii collected and/or sampled across SE Asia are likely to represent multiple cryptic taxa. To address these issues, we combined new and existing data from the genus Kerivoula on Taiwan and continental Asia, and performed diagnostic analyses in steps. First, phylogenetic reconstructions based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA revealed a well-supported group comprising all taxa currently recognized as K. hardwickii, together with the Taiwanese Kerivoula and Kerivoula kachinensis to the exclusion of all other congeneric species. Second, focusing on all members of this monophyletic clade (i.e., K. hardwickii complex) together with K. titania, we used multivariate statistical methods to separate taxa based on morphometric data. Our results provide strong evidence that among these bats, the Taiwanese Kerivoula is a new species that also occurs on continental Asia, for which we provide a formal description and name. In addition, we show that the subspecies K. hardwickii depressa should be elevated to species status [Kerivoula depressa]. We discuss our findings and the caveats of this and similar studies. 

  

FIG. 4. Photographs of Kerivoula furva sp. n., showing (a) a live individual (no voucher) as well as
 (b) dorsal and (c) ventral views of the skin specimen of holotype (NMNS 17595).

Scale bars in (b–c) =10 mm. Photo (a) by Cheng-Han Chou 

DOI: 10.3161/15081109ACC2017.19.1.002 

Kerivoula furva sp. n.

Etymology: The proposed English name is ‘Dark woolly bat’.The name refers to the very dark pelage of the new species.

Hao-Chih Kuo, Pipat Soisook, Ying-Yi Ho, Gabor Csorba, Chun-Neng Wang and Stephen J. Rossiter. 2017. A Taxonomic Revision of the Kerivoula hardwickii complex (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) with the Description of A New Species.   Acta Chiropterologica. 19(1); 19-39.  DOI: 10.3161/15081109ACC2017.19.1.002

ResearchGate.net/publication/315619863_A_taxonomic_revision_of_the_Kerivoula_hardwickii_complex_Chiroptera_Vespertilionidae_with_the_description_of_a_new_species

 facebook.com/BatsofThailand/posts/1101772636616359

[Mammalogy • 2017] Comparative Phylogeography of Bamboo Bats of the Genus Tylonycteris (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) in Southeast Asia; Revalidation of T. fulvida & T. malayana and Description of A New Species, T. tonkinensis, endemic to northern Indochina

Tylonycteris tonkinensis  

 Tu, Csorba, Ruedi & Hassanin, 2017

 DOI:  10.5852/ejt.2017.274 

Abstract 

In Southeast Asia, bats of the genus Tylonycteris Peters, 1872 have traditionally been classified into two wide-ranging species, T. pachypus (Temminck, 1840) and T. robustula Thomas, 1915. Our comparative phylogeographic analyses based on two mitochondrial and seven nuclear genes, combined with our multivariate morphological analyses, show that these species actually represent cryptic species complexes that share a similar biogeographic history in three major regions, i.e., Sundaland, southern Indochina, and northern Indochina. Our molecular dating estimates suggest that Pleistocene climatic oscillations and sea level changes have repeatedly isolated ancestral populations of Tylonycteris spp. in distant bamboo forest refugia. The analyses indicate, however, that populations of the T. pachypus complex were less affected by forest fragmentation in mainland Southeast Asia than those of the T. robustula complex. Accordingly, we propose several taxonomic changes within the genus Tylonycteris: the species T. fulvida and T. malayana are revalidated, and a new species, Tylonycteris tonkinensis Tu, Csorba, Ruedi & Hassanin sp. nov., endemic to northern Indochina, is described.

Keywords: Vespertilioninae; Tylonycteris; DNA phylogeny; taxonomy; biogeography

T. robustula Thomas, 1915 (corrected taxon name is Tylonycteris tonkinensis Tu, Csorba, Ruedi & Hassanin sp. nov.), holotype, IEBR-VN11-0055. Head profiles, ventral and dorsal views, fleshy pads at the base of the thumb and on the sole of the foot, and different views of the skull (dorsal, ventral and lateral). Scale = 10 mm.  

Phylum Chordata Haeckel, 1874

Class Mammalia Linnaeus, 1758

Order Chiroptera Blumenbach, 1779

Family Vespertilionidae Gray, 1821

Subfamily Vespertilioninae Gray, 1821

Tylonycteris tonkinensis Tu, Csorba, Ruedi & Hassanin sp. nov.

Tylonycteris robustula Thomas, 1915 (partim): 227.

Tylonycteris robustula – Osgood 1932: 236. — Tate 1942: 268. — Hendrichsen et al. 2001: 90. —

Kruskop 2013: 221. — Thomas et al. 2013: 229.

Etymology: The specific epithet refers to the current restricted occurrence of the new species in north-eastern Laos and northern Vietnam (Fig. 1). The Vietnamese portion of this region was previously called “Tonkin” during the Nguyễn dynasty and French colonial era (from the 19th to the mid-20th centuries) to separate it from the country’s centre (Annam) and southern regions (Cochinchina). The proposed English name is “Tonkin’s Greater Bamboo Bat” and the proposed Vietnamese name is ‘Dơi ống tre Bắc Bộ’.

Fig. 5. Morphological characteristics of the two nominal species of the genus Tylonycteris Peters, 1872.
 A. T. pachypus (Temminck, 1840) (corrected taxon name is T. fulvida (Blyth, 1859)), IEBR-VN11- 0015. B. T. robustula Thomas, 1915 (corrected taxon name is Tylonycteris tonkinensis Tu, Csorba, Ruedi & Hassanin sp. nov.), holotype, IEBR-VN11-0055. Head profiles, ventral and dorsal views, fleshy pads at the base of the thumb and on the sole of the foot, and different views of the skull (dorsal, ventral and lateral). Scale = 10 mm. 

Vuong Tan TU, Gábor CSORBA, Manuel RUEDI, Neil M. FUREY, Nguyen Truong SON, Vu Dinh THONG, Céline BONILLO and Alexandre HASSANIN. 2017. Comparative Phylogeography of Bamboo Bats of the Genus Tylonycteris (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) in Southeast Asia. European Journal of Taxonomy. 274: 1–38. DOI:  10.5852/ejt.2017.274

 ResearchGate.net/publication/313527707_Comparative_phylogeography_of_bamboo_bats_of_the_genus_Tylonycteris_Chiroptera_Vespertilionidae_in_Southeast_Asia

[Mammalogy • 2016] Kerivoula oreias • The Identity of Vespertilio oreias Temminck, 1840 — Solving A Taxonomic Puzzle

  Kerivoula oreias  (Temminck, 1840)  

 DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4205.6.4

Abstract

Vespertilio oreias (generally known as Myotis oreias) has long been considered an endemic bat species to Singapore but its taxonomic status has been in doubt, and no specimens have been found since its description in 1840. Temminck formally described it based on a mounted skin (now in poor condition and accompanied by some skull fragments). The holotype was re-examined and we found it to be a composite, consisting of two separate individuals representing two distinct genera, the skin belonging to a Kerivoula whereas the skull fragments are of a Myotis. The mounted skin is accepted herewith as the name-bearing type, as the skull fragments were taken out after Temminck had published his description. Unfortunately, neither the skin nor the dental remains show enough anatomical details to identify the species unambiguously. Hence, the name Vespertilio oreias is considered a nomen dubium and the name oreias should be referred to the genus Kerivoula.

Keywords: Mammalia, Southeast Asia, Singapore, Myotis oreias, Kerivoula, holotype, nomen dubium

FIGURE 1. The mounted skin of RMNH 35407, holotype of Kerivoula oreias (Temminck, 1840) on its pedestal (ventral view). 

FIGURE 2. Head of Kerivoula cf. papillosa from Cambodia (left) and details of ear and tragus of the holotype of Kerivoula oreias RMNH 35407 (right). 

Csorba, Gábor, C. Smeenk and Benjamin P. Y.-h. Lee. 2016. The Identity of Vespertilio oreias Temminck, 1840 — Solving A Taxonomic Puzzle.
 Zootaxa. 4205(6); 564–570. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4205.6.4

[Mammalogy • 2014] Molecular Phylogeny and Morphological Revision of Myotis bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Taiwan and adjacent China

Myotis soror Ruedi, Csorba, Lin & Chou, 2015

ABSTRACT 

In taxonomic accounts, three species of Myotis have been traditionally reported to occur on the island of Taiwan: Watase’s bat (M. formosus watasei Kishida), the Formosan broad-muzzled bat (M. muricola latirostris Kishida) and the Formosan mouse-eared bat (M. adversus taiwanensis Linde). The discovery in 1997 of an unknown taxon not fitting to the description of any of these species encouraged us to re-examine more thoroughly the systematics and phylogeny of Myotis bats inhabiting Taiwan. We used a combination of morphologic and molecular methods to aid the identification of the different taxa from this island and reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships. Multivariate analyses based on 17 craniodental characters of 105 specimens caught across Taiwan and further external characters allowed us to discriminate eight taxa of Myotinae co-occurring on this island. A subset of 80 specimens were further sequenced for the cytochrome b gene (1140 bp) and subjected to phylogenetic reconstructions including representative species from adjacent China and from all main lineages of the worldwide Myotis radiation. These molecular reconstructions showed that the Myotinae from Taiwan are phylogenetically diverse and are issued from several independent clades. The genetic results were completely congruent with the phenetic groupings based on craniodental and external morphology, as each of the eight Taiwanese taxa proved to be reciprocally monophyletic. Two unnamed taxa that did not fit into any of the known species were described as species new to science. Furthermore the taxon latirostris usually associated to the Asian M. muricola, was phylogenetically and morphologically distant from any other known Myotis and was assigned here to the fossil (Miocene) genus Submyotodon. Submyotodon latirostris, M. secundus sp. n. and M. soror sp. n. are endemic species from Taiwan, whereas the other five Myotis are more widespread and also found in the mainland. An identification key is provided to ease the discrimination of these Myotinae species in Taiwan and adjacent China.

Keywords: Myotinae, Submyotodon, cryptic species, multivariate analysis, cytochrome b, taxonomy

M. Ruedi, G. Csorba, L-K. Lin and C-H. Chou. 2015. Molecular Phylogeny and Morphological Revision of Myotis bats (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Taiwan and adjacent China. Zootaxa. 3920(1):301-342. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3920.2.6

researchgate.net/publication/272830083_Molecular_phylogeny_and_morphological_revision_of_Myotis_bats_(Chiroptera_Vespertilionidae)_from_Taiwan_and_adjacent_China

[Mammalogy • 2014] The Reds and the Yellows: A Review of Asian Chrysopteron Jentink, 1910 (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae: Myotis)

Myotis (Chrysopteron) formosus

ABSTRACT 

Chrysopteron Jentink, 1910 is 1 of the 7 subgenera of Myotis Kaup, 1829 recognized by Tate that traditionally comprises Asian and African species characterized by conspicuously parti-colored wing membranes. Definition of Myotis subgenera has long challenged taxonomists and prior to the present study the systematic status of numerous forms within Chrysopteron remained unclear. Following examination of material (including available type specimens) in 21 European, North American, and Asian collections, and using morphological (external, cranial, and dental characters) and genetic data, we evaluate the validity of the Chrysopteron subgenus, revise the taxonomy of the named Asian forms, and review their distinguishing characters, distribution, and taxonomic history. We argue that Chrysopteron is an available name for a monophyletic “Ethiopian clade” recovered with high support in our analyses, which comprises species characterized by striking reddish or yellowish dorsal fur that strongly differentiates them from congeners. We also determine that M. formosus sensu lato contains several morphologically distinct forms, some of which occur in sympatry and some in widely separated localities.
A morphological key is provided for all Asian species of Chrysopteron revealed by our study: M. bartelsi Jentink, 1910 (Java and Bali), M. formosus (Hodgson, 1835) (Afghanistan, India, Nepal, China, Taiwan, and Vietnam), M. hermani Thomas, 1923 (Sumatra, Thailand, and Malaysia), M. rufoniger (Tomes, 1858) (Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Laos, and Vietnam), M. rufopictus (Waterhouse, 1845) (Philippines), and M. weberi (Jentink, 1890) (Sulawesi).

Keywords: identification key, mouse-eared bats, phylogeny, systematics, taxonomy

Myotis formosus

archive.zo.NTU.edu.tw

Gábor Csorba, Cheng-Han Chou, Manuel Ruedi, Tamás Görföl, Masaharu Motokawa, Sigit Wiantoro, Vu Dinh Thong, Nguyen Truong Son, Liang-Kong Lin and Neil Furey. 2014. The Reds and the Yellows: A Review of Asian Chrysopteron Jentink, 1910 (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae: Myotis). Journal of Mammalogy. 95(4): 663-678. DOI: dx.doi.org/10.1644/13-mamm-a-200

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264858380_The_reds_and_the_yellows_a_review_of_Asian_Chrysopteron_Jentink_1910_(Chiroptera_Vespertilionidae_Myotis)

BUMRUNGSRI, S., D. L. HARRISON, C. SATASOOK, A. PRAJKUKJITR, S. THONG-AREE, AND P. J. J. BATES. 2006. A review of bat research in Thailand with eight new species records for the country. Acta Chiropterologica. 8:325–359.

http://bioff.forest.ku.ac.th/PDF_FILE/JAN_2011/Bat_of_Thailand_version2007_FULL.pdf