Neoromicia malagasyensis, Peterson, Eger & Mitchell, 1995

Goodman, Steven M., Rakotondramanana, Claude Fabienne, Ramasindrazana, Beza, Kearney, Teresa, Monadjem, Ara, Schoeman, M. Corrie, Taylor, Peter J., Naughton, Kate & Appleton, Belinda, 2015, An integrative approach to characterize Malagasy bats of the subfamily Vespertilioninae Gray, 1821, with the description of a new species of Hypsugo, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 173 (4), pp. 988-1018 : 1000

NEOROMICIA MALAGASYENSIS

(PETERSON ET AL., 1995)

Molecular genetics

K2P distance within this lineage was 0.003 (N = 3, Table 1). Sister species to N. robertsi and these two taxa show 4.5% sequence divergence from one another. This clade is distinct from an apparently undescribed African species previously referred to as N. cf. melckorum ( Monadjem et al., 2010) , from which it is separated by about 12.0% sequence divergence.

Morphometrics

Measurements presented in Table 2.

Craniodental morphology

The different species of Neoromicia identified from Madagascar can be differentiated from those of the genera Pipistrellus and Hypsugo based on the absence of a first upper premolar (P 3) in the former. Neoromicia robertsi is distinctly larger that the other two members of this genus occurring on the island with a GSKL of ≥ 14.3 mm, while that of N. malagasyensis falls between 12.4–12.6 mm and N. matroka between 12.4–13.4 mm ( Table 3). Bates et al. (2006) provided a number of characters to differentiate between small species of Malagasy Neoromicia , including the width across the M 3 – M 3 of <5.4 mm falling within the range of N. malagasyensis and ≥ 5.4 mm within that of N. matroka . With an increased number of samples, there is a slight overlap in the M 3 –M 3 measurement between these species ( Table 4). These two taxa occur in near sympatry in the Isalo region ( Fig. 1 , see below ‘Known geographical range’).

Bioacoustics

Measurements presented in Table 6.

Bacular morphology

The bacula of two males obtained from near the Parc National de l’Isalo had total lengths of 2.10 and 2.25 mm. As described by Bates et al. (2006), based on a single example, the distal end of the bone is flattened and deflected ventrally, similar to N. matroka ( Fig. 7A, B ). However, in N. malagasyensis the surface area and the lateral flanges of the ventral projection are reduced and less curved (more rectilinear) in outline ( Fig. 7C ). The general baculum shape in N. malagasyensis shows some similarities to its sister species, N. robertsi ( Fig. 7D ; Goodman et al., 2012a), but its form appears intermediate between N. matroka and N. robertsi . The baculum previously assigned to N. cf. malagasyensis (FMNH 213576) in Goodman et al. (2012a), from specimen sequenced in the current study, is referable to Hypsugo bemainty sp. nov. (see below). Further, the baculum of N. cf. melckorum , which is the next group out from the malagasyensis - robertsi clade, is morphologically similar to this species complex ( Fig. 7G ).

Known geographical range

In Figure 1 , localities are presented of sequenced specimens of N. malagasyensis . One other specimen identified as this taxon by Bates et al. (2006) using baculum morphology includes: Analamangabe, Parc National de l’Isalo, 22°29.13′S, 45°23.04′E ( UADBA 43680 , RBJ-130) .

Figures

Figure 1. Map of localities mentioned in text associated with sequenced members of the genera Neoromicia, Pipistrellus, and Hypsugo captured on Madagascar. Other localities mentioned in the text and an elevational gradient are also shown.

Figure 7. Dorsal (above) and lateral (below) views of bacula from six species of Neoromicia. A, Neoromicia matroka (FMNH 222725, total length 2.12 mm) from Mantadia; B, Neoromicia matroka (FMNH 222728, total length 2.26 mm) from Anjozorobe; C, Neoromicia malagasyensis (FMNH 222724, total length 2.25 mm) from Isalo; D, Neoromicia robertsi (FMNH 222729, total length 3.12 mm), from Anjozorobe; E, Neoromicia capensis, dorsal view (TM 48490, ECJS-112/2009, total length 2.04 mm) and lateral view (TM 48485, ECJS-03/2009, lateral view, total length 2.01 mm) from Botswana; F: Neoromicia nana (TM 48573, UP-923, total length 1.32 mm), from South Africa; G, Neoromicia cf. melckorum (NMZL ECJS-114/ 2010, total length 2.55 mm) from Zambia.