Murina annamitica, 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 : 34-35

Murina annamitica sp. nov.

( Figs. 3e , 4e , 5e , 11 ; Tables 1 , 2; Map Fig. 2d )

Murina CMF sp. D: Francis et al. 2010: 6.

Holotype

ROM 106467 ♂ (field number CMF 960418-05) collected 18 April 1996 near Nam Pan in the Annamite Mountains, Bolikhamxai Province, Laos (18°28’N, 105°05’E, alt. ≈ 1300 m).

Paratypes

ROM 106466 ♂, 106468 ♂, 117910 ♂ same locality and same date.

Referred material

ROM 106492 ♀ (27 April 1996, Nakai Plateau , Khammouan Province, Laos, 17°53’N, 104°50’E, alt. ≈ 500 m) ; ROM 118394 ♂ (29 April 1998, near Ban Phoulan , Louangnamtha, Laos, 20°44’N, 101°10’E) ; EBD 25753 (field number 990322.66; 22 March 1998, near Ban Chak , Nam Et – Phou Louey, Houaphan, Laos, 20°27’N, 103°23’E) ; ROM 111361 ♂ (26 March 1999, Noc Ong Toan , Tran Don, Quang Nam, Vietnam, 15°14’N, 108°02’E, alt 700 m) ; ZMMU S-184673 ♂ (11 April 2009, Bu Gia Map , Binh Phuoc Province, Vietnam, 12°12’N, 107°12’E, alt. 540 m) .

Diagnosis

A small Murina externally similar to, but slightly smaller than, Murina cyclotis , though with more extensive dark bases to the fur, especially on the venter; cranially, similar to M. huttoni with both upper premolars similar in height; anterior upper molars with well developed mesostyles; and lower molars with well developed talonids; but smaller (FA 30–32; GSL 16.0–16.5), and with some differences in skull shape.

Description

The fur of the dorsum is long and fluffy, the hairs with slate grey bases for about 40% of their length, then a buffy band, then darker brown to orangebrown tips, the overall appearance being orangebrown to brown. The fur of the underside has slate grey bases for about 60–70% of the length, then buffy tips, giving an overall greyish buff appearance. The interfemoral membrane is extensively covered with hairs, which are longer near the body and progressively shorter distally, although the hairs on the legs, feet and posterior edge of the membrane are long. There are very short hairs on the FA and leading edge of the wing. The calcar is well developed, lacking a keel, and extending about 35% of the distance along the interfemoral membrane from the foot to the tip of the tail. The wing membrane is inserted on the side of the toe about 1 mm from the base of the claw. The ear is round without a notch on its posterior border.

The skull has a moderately inflated braincase, deep rostral depression, and only moderately thick rostrum ( Fig. 3e ). The upper toothrows ( Fig. 4e ) are nearly parallel to each other; the upper incisors are similar in height and aligned nearly straight across, such that the inner incisor is not visible in lateral view; the anterior upper premolar (P 2) is about the same height as the posterior premolar (P 4) and about half the height of the canine (C 1); the first two upper molars (M 1, M 2) have well developed mesostyles, comparable in height to the metastyle and parastyle, giving a distinctly W-shape to the surface; the labial edge is nearly straight without any indentation. In the mandibular toothrow ( Fig. 5e ), both premolars are similar in height; the canine is narrow and about 50% taller than the premolars; and the anterior molars (M 1 and M 2) have well developed talonids, about 2/3 the size of the trigonid.

Etymology

This species name refers to the Annamite mountains where the type series was collected.

Morphological comparison with similar species

Among Indochinese Murina , in dental morphology, this species most closely resembles M. huttoni , but the latter differs in its larger size; proportionately longer, more robust rostrum; slightly less domed braincase; thickened alisphenoid bone which partly covers the alisphenoid canal (the bone is not thickened in the new species); and more extensive basisphenoid bone extension over the bulla (which is relatively smaller in the new species).

Murina cyclotis and M. fionae differ in having reduced mesostyles on the upper molars, M 1 and M 2, and a proportionately much smaller trigonid on the lower molars, M 1 and M 2. Murina harrisoni is considerably larger, and has a moderate reduction in the mesostyle on M 1 and M 2. The Sunda species M. rozendaali has somewhat similar dentition, but has very different fur colour with a pure white belly and the dorsal fur banded with golden tips.

The recently described M. lorelieae is externally similar in colour and size, but differs in several cranial and dental characters, including having the anterior premolar shorter than the posterior and a less sloping cranial profile.

Genetic analyses

DNA barcodes are available on Genbank for the holotype ( HM540969 ) and for four other specimens ( HM540967 , HM540968 , HM54070, HM54071), as well as through BOLD. A neighbour-joining analysis of these data (see figure 4 in Francis et al., 2010; labeled as ‘ Murina CMF sp. D’) indicates that the species is very distinctive, with the nearest neighbour ( M. huttoni ) differing by at least 15%; howev- er, that level of divergence was very similar to that from many other species and is so great that the branching orders cannot be reliably determined. Hence, its nearest relatives cannot be determined without additional information. Analyses of cytochrome b (J. L. Eger, unpublished data) indicate this is the same species as Murina sp. A of Ruedi et al. (2012).

Distribution and ecology

Specimens in the type series were all caught on the same night in the same trap in wet evergreen montane forest in the Annamite Mountains at an altitude of about 1,300 m. The trap was set across a skidder trail in an area of thick bamboo. The specimen from the Nakai Plateau was caught in a trap set across a trail through a patch of woods in an area dominated by pine savannah with patches of evergreen and semi-deciduous woods at an altitude of about 500 m. The Vietnamese specimen was caught in a harp trap set near a village in premontane secondary forest at an altitude of ≈ 700 m.

Because this species was confused with M. cyclotis in the field, it is possible that some additional records were overlooked. Specimens were only identified as this species if the skull was extracted or if a DNA barcode was obtained. Not all specimens originally identified as M. cyclotis from Laos were collected, and among those that were collected, not all specimens have been barcoded or had their skulls extracted. Nevertheless, it appears to be much less common than M. cyclotis based on specimens that were examined carefully.

Figures

FIG. 3. Skull profiles of specimens of eight species of Murina from Laos: (a) M. harrisoni, EBD 24974; (b) M. fionae sp. nov. ROM 106383; (c) M. huttoni ROM 106419; (d) M. cyclotis, ROM 106431; (e) M. annamitica sp. nov. ROM 106467; (f) M. eleryi, ROM 106411; (g) M. walstoni ROM 110450; (h) M. feae, ROM 106477. Scale bar = 5 mm

FIG. 4. Upper left toothrows of specimens of eight species of Murina from Laos: (a) M. harrisoni, EBD 24974; (b) M. fionae sp. nov. ROM 106383; (c) M. huttoni ROM 106419; (d) M. cyclotis, ROM 106431; (e) M. annamitica sp. nov., ROM 106467; (f) M. eleryi, ROM 106411; (g) M. walstoni ROM 110450; (h) M. feae, ROM 106477. Scale bar = 5 mm

FIG. 5. Lower left toothrows of specimens of eight species of Murina from Laos: (a) M. harrisoni, EBD 24974; (b) M. fionae sp. nov. ROM 106383; (c) M. huttoni ROM 106419; (d) M. cyclotis, ROM 106431; (e) M. annamitica sp. nov., ROM 106467; (f) M. eleryi, ROM 106411; (g) M. walstoni ROM 110450; (h) M. feae, ROM 106477. Scale bar = 5 mm

FIG. 11. Ventral view of left foot of M. harrisoni (EBD 24974) from Laos, showing insertion point of wing membrane on the side of the toe, slightly less than half way between the base of the toe and the base of the claw. Note that the two first toes are joined near the base by a membrane, but the actual base of the toe is closer to the body

FIG. 2. Distribution of known specimen records of Murina from Laos and surrounding countries for (a) M. harrisoni, (b) M. walstoni, (c) M. fionae sp. nov., and (d) M. annamitica sp. nov. Solid circles (●) represent locations for specimens examined by the authors from Laos and surrounding countries (see Appendix and text for specimen details). Solid stars represent type localities for each species. Hollow circles represent records from the published literature. On map (a), the open star marks the type locality for M. tiensa, here considered a synonym of M. harrisoni, while the open circle marks the location of additional material referred to M. tiensa by Csorba et al. (2007)