 Eudiscoderma thongareeae Soisook, Prajakjitr, Karapan, Francis & Bates, 2015 ค้างคาวแวมไพร์แปลงทองอารีย์ | Thongaree’s Disc-nosed Bat |
Abstract
A new genus and associated species of false vampire, family Megadermatidae, are described based on three specimens from Bala Forest, Narathiwat Province, peninsular Thailand. The new taxon is characterised by a unique combination of distinctive dental, cranial, and external characters, some of which are shared with exclusively African genera and some with Asian genera. These characters are comparable to, or exceed in number, those differentiating currently recognised genera in the family Megadermatidae. They include the absence of a first upper premolar; greatly enlarged upper canine without an anterolingual cingular cusp but with a robust posterolingual cusp; unmodified upper first molar with the preparacrista subequal in length to the postmetacrista, the metastyle not reduced and situated labially; robust lower canine without an anterolingual cusp; the first lower premolar enlarged, equal to or larger than the second lower premolar. In the skull, there is a pronounced rostral depression but no well developed frontal shield with preorbital and/or postorbital processes; the coronoid process is greatly enlarged in each half mandible. Externally, the body size is relatively large and the posterior noseleaf is rounded. The baculum has a robust shaft and two short prongs—the bacula of all five other species of megadermatid are illustrated for the first time; extraordinarily, those of Macroderma gigas and Megaderma lyra comprise two separate bones. DNA barcoding indicate a genetic divergence of about 20 percent (sequence divergence in the mitochondrial gene CO1) between the new genus and species of Megaderma and Cardioderma. Currently, despite numerous bat surveys in peninsular Thailand, the new genus is only known from Bala Forest. The small area of this forest and the very low capture rate suggest that the new species may be extremely rare. Its natural history is little known, although its robust dental and cranial features when coupled with chance observations of its feeding behaviour, suggest it may specialise in eating large beetles. Its conservation status is considered to be at risk owing to the rapid loss of forest habitat in much of the Thai-Malay peninsula.
Keywords: False vampire, Halabala Wildlife Research Station, Megadermatidae, new genus, new species, taxonomy, Thailand, tropical rainforest, Southeast Asia
Systematics
Family Megadermatidae Allen, 1864
Eudiscoderma gen. nov. | Disc-nosed Bat
Type species.Eudiscoderma thongareeae sp. nov.
Soisook, Prajakjitr, Karapan, Francis & Bates, 2015
Etymology. The genus name is derived from the well-defined disc-shaped noseleaf of the type species. The genus gender is neuter.
Eudiscoderma thongareeae sp. nov.
Thongaree’s Disc-nosed Bat | ค้างคาวแวมไพร์แปลงทองอารีย์
Etymology. The species thongareeae is named in honour of Ms Siriporn Thongaree, the former head of Halabala Wildlife Research Station [HalaBalaWRS], who dedicated her life to researching the diversity and ecology of wildlife in the southernmost part of Thailand and to promoting its conservation. The proposed English name is “Thongaree’s Disc-nosed Bat”.
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The relationship of M. spasma and M. lyra remains unresolved. Genetic data included here (Fig. 11), the extraordinary differences in the baculum (Fig. 9), and differences in the dentition and skull support the view that M. lyra is generically discrete from M. spasma. However, in view of the contradictory interpretations presented by Hand (1985) and Griffiths et al. (1992), discussed above, and the weak bootstrap support for the deeper branches in our phylogeny (Fig. 11), we prefer to leave this particular issue for a further study. Additional genetic data, incorporating nuclear genes with slower evolutionary change, may help to resolve the phylogeny. On the basis of data presented here, it is not possible to place the newly discovered megadermatid from peninsular Thailand into any one of the five previously recognised genera, including the sympatric Megaderma. As noted above, it has a unique combination of characters, incorporating features, some of which are found exclusively in African genera and others in Asian genera. These differences are supported by genetic data. Therefore, we have attributed the new species thongareeae to a new genus Eudiscoderma.
Hand (1995) suggested that where megadermatids live sympatrically over part of their range, they are either significantly different in size (Megaderma spasma v M. lyra) or represent two distinct lineages (L. frons v C. cor). She also suggested that the latter species in each of these pairs consumes significantly more vertebrate prey than the other. In the case of Eudiscoderma, it is both larger and phylogenetically distinct from M. spasma and may have a more specialised diet. M. spasma is known to eat large flying insects, such as grasshoppers, moths, bush-crickets, and beetles but not vertebrates (Bates & Harrison 1997). In contrast, Eudiscoderma has features, that appear highly developed for crushing hard prey. In the dentition, this includes the robust upper canines and, in the skull, the enlarged coronoid processes and well developed sagittal crest, both of which are indicative of strong musculature.
These adaptations sit well with information on the diet. E. thongareeae was observed catching and eating beetles, the carapaces of which are made from chitin, one of the hardest of natural materials.
Soisook, Pipat, Amorn Prajakjitr, Sunate Karapan, Charles M. Francis & Paul J. J. Bates. 2015. A New Genus and Species of False Vampire (Chiroptera: Megadermatidae) from peninsular Thailand. Zootaxa. 3931(4): 528–550. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3931.4.4
ทีมวิจัยนานาชาติ นำโดยนักวิจัยจากพิพิธภัณฑสถานธรรมชาติวิทยา๕๐ พรรษา สยามบรมราชกุมารี มหาวิทยาลัยสงขลานครินทร์ และสถานีวิจัยสัตว์ป่าป่าพรุ ป่าฮาลา-บาลา รายงานการค้นพบ ค้างคาวสกุลและชนิดใหม่ ของโลกในประเทศไทย จากบริเวณป่าบาลา จังหวัดนราธิวาส อันเป็นส่วนหนึ่งของผืนป่าฮาลาบาลาที่สมบูรณ์ทางภาคใต้ตอนใต้สุดของไทย
ค้างคาวสกุลใหม่นี้ได้ชื่อว่า ค้างคาวแวมไพร์แปลงทองอารีย์ (Eudiscoderma thongareeae | Thongaree’s Disc-nosed Bat) เป็นการตั้งชื่อเพื่อเป็นเกียรติแด่ คุณศิริพร ทองอารีย์อดีตหัวหน้าสถานีวิจัยสัตว์ป่าป่าพรุ ป่าฮาลา-บาลา ผู้มีคุณูปการณ์ต่อการอนุรักษ์และศึกษาวิจัย สัตว์ป่า ความหลากหลายทางชีวภาพ และนิเวศวิทยา ในบริเวณภาคใต้ตอนใต้สุดของไทย
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Scientists find a new genus of false vampire from Thailand
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