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