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| Rhinolophus indorouxii Raman, Garg & Chattopadhyay, 2026 |
Abstract
Bats are the second largest group of mammals with high cryptic diversity. In this study, we describe the previously identified sibling species Rhinolophus indorouxii of the endemic rufous horseshoe bat Rhinolophus rouxii from Southern India. The species was discovered based on acoustic diversity and mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequencing–based genetic distance metric and phylogenetic affinity. However, no detailed morphological description was available. We address this lacuna by presenting with a detailed morphological description along with acoustic and genetic (cytochrome oxidase I barcoding gene) data and identify species specific characters for future studies. This is an important step in recognizing the species diversity of Southern India, which is home to one of the global biodiversity hotspots.
Keywords: bat, taxonomy, systematics, Chiroptera, New species, Rhinolophidae, Western Ghats
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| External appearance of Rhinolophus indorouxii sampled from Kerala part of southern Western Ghats. A—front view of the bat showing the noseleaf and ears, taken from Silent Valley National Park on 05 June 2018, B—dorsal view of the bat, taken Periyar Tiger Reserve on 12 July 2017, C—lateral view of bat with brown coloration, taken from Kasargod Forest Division on 25 Nov 2018, D—bat having a combination of orange and brown coloration, taken from Ranipuram (Kasargod Forest Division) on 21 Feb 2018, E—bat with a combination of golden and orange coloration from Periyar Tiger Reserve on 12 July 2017, F—bat with dark-orange coloration from Periyar Tiger Reserve on 12 July 2017. Images: Sreehari Raman. Not to scale. |
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| The skull and mandible of Rhinolophus indorouxii, ♂ ZSI/WGRC/I.R.-V.4044 (holotype) from Dhoni reserve forest, Palakkad, Kerala, south India. A—lateral views of the skull; B—lateral views of the mandible; C—dorsal view of the skull; D—occlusal view of skull; E—occlusal view of the mandible; F—frontal view of the mandible Scale=10 mm. |
Sreehari Raman, Kritika M. Garg and Balaji Chattopadhyay. 2026. Resolving Taxonomic Ambiguity: Description of A New cryptic Rufous Horseshoe Bat from Southern India Rhinolophus indorouxii sp. nov. Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity. In Press, DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.japb.2026.06.003 [24 July 2026]
