Systematics of Megachiropteran Bats in the Solomon Islands — John Shaqi
Systematics of Megachiropteran Bats in the Solomon IslandsPhillips, Carleton J.
Science
Systematics of Megachiropteran Bats in the Solomon Islands
Phillips, Carleton J.
Bats -- Solomon Islands
_Diagnosis._--Size average for genus but larger than closest relative,
_Nyctimene albiventer_; wing membranes brown with scattered yellow spots
(dried specimen); uropatagium, ears, and feet brown; dorsal surface of
tibia set with hair, ventral surface bare; dorsal surface of uropatagium
sparsely set with hair, ventral surface having few, scattered hairs;
dorsal surface of trailing edge of wing membrane sparsely set with
hairs, ventral surface bare; proximal third of upper- and under-surface
of forearm set with hair; pelage of back luxuriant and soft (about 10
long); hair on crown and nape shorter than on back (4 to 8);
well-defined black dorsal stripe from shoulders to rump (about 2 wide);
basal half of most hairs on dorsum Deep Mouse Gray, distal half Light
Buff, tips Ochraceous-Tawny; some hairs on back entirely Light Buff;
hairs of crown Light Ochraceous Buff tipped with Ochraceous-Tawny; hair
on throat and along sides of abdomen Light Ochraceous Buff; hairs of
ventral midline Smoke Gray; braincase narrow; zygomatic breadth
relatively narrow; well-developed lambdoidal crest in female; rostrum
short, wide; upper canines slanted posteriorly; upper incisors large;
foramen ovale large (see Fig. 14).
[Illustration: FIG. 14. Dorsal and ventral views of skulls of
(A) _Nyctimene albiventer minor_ [specimen 23631 [M]],
(B) _N. a. bougainville_ [specimen 23381 [M]], and
(C) _N. malaitensis_ [specimen 24103 [F]].]
_Comparisons._--From _Nyctimene major scitulus_, the largest kind of
_Nyctimene_ in the Solomons, _malaitensis_ differs as follows: smaller
in all dimensions (forearm 65 as opposed to 73.5); greatest length of
skull 32.4 as opposed to 37.0; length of maxillary tooth-row 10.5 as
opposed to 13.0; length of mandibular tooth-row 11.8 as opposed to 14.2.
From nine adults of _Nyctimene albiventer bougainville_ from
Bougainville, Kolombangara, and Guadalcanal, _malaitensis_ differs as
follows: larger in all dimensions: forearm 65 as opposed to 57.9;
greatest length of skull 32.4 as opposed to 29.7; zygomatic breadth 20.4
as opposed to 19.2; and length of maxillary tooth-row 10.5 as opposed to
9.5; length of mandibular tooth-row 11.8 as opposed to 11.1.
From five adults of _Nyctimene albiventer minor_, from Choiseul and
Santa Ysabel, _malaitensis_ differs in the same ways it differs from _N.
a. bougainville_, but the contrast is even greater when _malaitensis_
and _minor_ are compared.
From _Nyctimene sanctacrucis_, known only from the Santa Cruz Islands,
_malaitensis_ differs in being smaller in all dimensions: forearm 65 as
opposed to 75; greatest length of skull 32.4 as opposed to 34.5; and
length of maxillary tooth-row 10.5 as opposed to 12.9.
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