Murina fionae, Francis & Eger, 2012

Francis, Charles M. & Eger, Judith L., 2012, A review of tube-nosed bats (Murina) from Laos with a description of two new species, Acta Chiropterologica 14 (1), pp. 15-38 : 32-34

publication ID	https://doi.org/ 10.3161/150811012X654231
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/16319E21-FFC8-FF87-6920-F8E3FEE51708
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Murina fionae
status	sp. nov.

Treatment

Murina fionae View in CoL sp. nov.

( Figs. 3b View FIG , 4b View FIG , 5b View FIG , 6b View FIG ; Tables 1 View TABLE , 2; Map Fig. 2c View FIG )

Murina View in CoL CMF sp. B: Francis et al. 2010: 6

Murina peninsularis: Matveev and Csorba 2007: 100 View in CoL ; not M. peninsularis Hill 1963 View in CoL .

Holotype

ROM 106383 View Materials ♂ (field number CMF 960407-04) collected 7 April 1996 at Pha Deng , ≈ 8 km E of Ban Navang, Khammouan Province, Laos (17°57’N, 105°23’E); altitude 1140 m.

GoogleMaps

Paratype

ROM 106382 ♀ (field number CMF 960407-03), same date and locality.

Referred material

ROM 111292 ♀ collected 15 March 1999 at Ngoc Linh, 10 km SW Nuoc Xa, Quang Nam, Vietnam (15°12’N, 108°02’E), altitude 830 m. ZMMU S-167185 Ke Bang, Quang Binh, Vietnam (17°40’N, 105°56’E).

Diagnosis

Morphologically and dentally, this species resembles Murina cyclotis , with both premolars similar in size to each other, with reduced mesostyles on M 1 and M 2 and with reduced talonids on the lower molars (M 1 and M 2), but is substantially larger (FA 37–38, GSL 19.0–19.4), with pale-based fur and a large difference in mtDNA.

Description

The fur of the dorsum is long with pale buff bases and orange-brown tips. Scattered longer guard hairs are pale to the tip, creating a frosted appearance; the hairs of the underparts are unicoloured, pale buff orange over most of the venter, but more whitish near the chin ( Fig. 6b View FIG ). The ears are moderately large and rounded. The interfemoral membrane, legs, feet and tail are covered with long orange-brown hairs which are relatively dense on the legs and feet. The calcar is thick, with no keel, extending about 40% of the distance from the foot to the tail tip. The wing membrane is inserted on the side of the toe, near the base of the claw.

The skull has a large, inflated braincase, well marked rostral depression, and deep rostrum ( Fig. 3b View FIG ), with a well developed sagittal crest. The toothrows are roughly parallel. The upper incisors are nearly side by side, such that the inner incisor is largely obscured in lateral view ( Fig. 3b View FIG ). The anterior upper premolar (P 2) is similar in size and height to the posterior premolar (P 4). The first and second upper molars (M 1 and M 2) are relatively narrow, and their mesostyles (middle labial cusps) are greatly reduced, not visible from the side, and leaving a deep U-shaped indentation in the labial side of the molars when viewed from above ( Fig. 4b View FIG ). In the lower toothrow, similar to M. cyclotis , the posterior section (talonid) of the lower molars (M 1 and M 2) is greatly reduced relative to the anterior section (trigonid; Fig. 5b View FIG ). In lateral view, the cusps are slightly more than half the height of the anterior cusps, while viewed from above, on the lingual side, the length of the talonid is less than half the length of the trigonid ( Fig. 5b View FIG ).

Etymology

This species is named after Fiona Francis who, as a child, had to endure long periods without her father while he was surveying bats in Laos (although in 1998, at the age of 7, she did have the opportunity to participate in six weeks of surveys in Laos).

Morphological comparison with similar species

Based on dental morphology, this species appears closely allied to M. cyclotis but differs in its larger size, pale bases to the fur and some details of dentition. The labial shelf of M 1 and M 2 is larger and more angular in M. fionae than in M. cyclotis , while M 3 has a relatively larger metacone (central cusp; compare Fig. 4b and 4d View FIG ).

Despite a very large genetic difference (14% divergence), in overall size and morphology, it is similar to M. peninsularis , but specimens that we have examined of the latter ( ROM 112308 ♀ from Pahang; ROM 117929 View Materials , 117930 View Materials ♂♂ from Sabah) have a slightly shorter, less elongate skull ; greater reduction of M 3 which is not as wide as M 2 (M 3 is similar in width to M 2 in M. fionae ), and has a small- er central cusp which tends not to protrude on the posterior edge; greater reduction of the talonid relative to the trigonid on M 1 and M 2; and relatively narrower P 2. Furthermore, the specimens we have examined of M. peninsularis have relatively darker bases to both the dorsal and ventral fur.

In several characters, M. fionae is similar to M. harrisoni including the fur colour and the indentation of the outer edge of M 1 and M 2, but M. harrisoni still has distinct mesostyles on those molars ( Fig. 4a View FIG ), the talonids of the lower molars M 1 and M 2 are relatively larger, only slightly smaller than those of M. huttoni (compare Fig. 5a, 5b, 5c View FIG ), and M. fionae has a higher, more inflated braincase which rises more abruptly from the rostrum ( Fig. 3b View FIG ).

Genetic analyses

DNA barcodes are available through Genbank and BOLD for the paratype ( HM540965 View Materials ) as well as the ROM specimen from Vietnam ( HM540966 View Materials ). Neighbour joining trees based on DNA barcodes indicate that this species differs by at least 11% from any other known Murina (figure 4 in Francis et al., 2010, labeled as ‘ Murina CMF sp. B’). Unfortunately, this level of divergence is so great that it is not possible to ascertain relationships reliably with other species using just this gene. Based on morphology and the deep divergences, we can speculate that M. fionae , M. peninsularis , and M. cyclotis may have evolved separately from an ancestor that resembled M. cyclotis , but further genetic data from slower evolving genes are required to test that hypothesis.

Distribution and ecology

Both the Lao and Vietnamese specimens were collected in wet, evergreen hill forest of the Annamite Mountains at altitudes of 830 m to 1140 m ( Fig. 2c View FIG ). The record from Cambodia is based on a cytochrome b sequence published in Genbank ( GQ168911 View Materials ) for a specimen (HNHM 2005.81.16) originally identified as Murina peninsularis ( Matveev and Csorba, 2007) . The DNA sequence matches very closely to cytochrome b sequences of our specimens (J. L. Eger, unpublished data), and given the morphological similarity to M. peninsularis , it seems likely that the Cambodian specimen represents this new species. That specimen was trapped on 9 July 2005 in the Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area, Mondolkiri Province, Cambodia at km 159 on the road between Seima and O’Rang, (12°10’49N, 106°58’55E) in semi-deciduous forest at an altitude of 290 m. The female specimen ROM 111292 from Vietnam had two embryos, CR = 8 mm on 15 Mar 1999.