Miniopterus australis Tomes, 1858

Huang, Joe Chun-Chia, Jazdzyk, Elly Lestari, Nusalawo, Meyner, Maryanto, Ibnu, Maharadatunkamsi, Wiantoro, Sigit & Kingston, Tigga, 2014, A recent bat survey reveals Bukit Barisan Selatan Landscape as a chiropteran diversity hotspot in Sumatra, Acta Chiropterologica 16 (2), pp. 413-449 : 437-438

Miniopterus australis Tomes, 1858

Little long-fingered bat

New record Lampung Province: Way Canguk Forest.

New material

One bat was collected as a voucher specimen. Lampung Province: Way Canguk Forest, 1♂ ( MZB 35816).

Previous records from Sumatra

Only listed for northern Sumatra ( Boitani et al., 2006), but no locality records given.

Remarks

The records of Miniopterus species for Sumatra are not consistent among previous studies. van Strien (1996) and Suyanto et al. (1998, 2002) listed three species for the island: M. fuliginosus (as M. schreibersii in the studies, but see Tian et al., 2004), M. magnater , and M. pusillus . However, the records of M. pusillus (also see Whitten et al., 2000) were not included in subsequent reviews ( Corbet and Hill 1992; Simmons, 2005; Boitani et al., 2006; IUCN, 2013). An additional species, M. australis , is listed for Sumatra by a few recent studies ( Boitani et al., 2006; IUCN, 2013). Due to similarities in appearance, the classification of Miniopterus remains uncertain, which makes species identification in the field difficult ( Francis, 2008). In this study, we recognize three morphologically distinct species in our samples, and assign names to three of the four known species (see species accounts below). Further studies of craniodental measurements and genetic relationships are necessary to confirm our identifications.

Miniopterus australis is the smallest of the three recognized species from our study area. Comparing with known Miniopterus species in the Sunda shelf, the forearm length, body mass, and tibia length of the bat overlapped largely with M. australis from other localities, but were smaller than all other Miniopterus species ( Table 4 ). Individuals were characterized by orange-yellow and flesh-colored skin of the face and tragus, which was not observed in the other two Miniopterus species in our study. Similar coloration is seen in M. medius from Peninsular Malaysia but not in M. australis from Borneo (J. Senawi, personal communication). However, coloration is seldom used as a diagnostic trait to identify cave-roosting insectivorous bats in Southeast Asia because variations in color among individuals and geographic populations are commonly found in many species. Although this color pattern is stable in our samples, in the present study, we assign this species as M. australis solely based upon the body size. Individuals were recorded from caves in Way Canguk Forest and were found using the same roosts as Miniopterus magnater , M. pusillus , Rhinolophus lepidus / pusillus , Hipposideros cervinus , and Myotis horsfieldii . In the study area, M. australis can be easily distinguished from other known Miniopterus species by the skin color and the smaller size ( Table 2 ). Our record is the first record of this species in BBSL and extends the distribution in Sumatra from the north to the south.