A new species of fruit bat (Megachiroptera: Pteropodidae: Thoopterus) from Sulawesi and adjacent islands, Indonesia

A new species of fruit bat in the genus Thoopterus, T. suhaniahae, is described from Sulawesi, Talaud and Wowoni Islands in Indonesia. The new species differs from T. nigrescens in having larger cranial, dental, mandibular, external measurements, and a wider calcar. In addition, the tail of the new species is absent or reduced to a rudiment, a quarter to a half of the under face of the uropatagium is sparsely furred and the urethal aperture of the glans penis lacks a conspicuous scale-like projection. The new species is sympatric with T. nigrescens and is known from elevations of 60–2,100 m above sea level. INTRODUCTION The fruit bat genus Thoopterus was proposed by Matschie (1899) as a subgenus of Cynopterus. Gray (1870) recognized nigrescens as a variety of Cynopterus marginatus (Geoffroy, 1810). Andersen (1912) recognized Thoopterus as a valid monotypic genus, based on the absence of a postorbital foramina, incisors complete, upper canine grooved, cheek teeth 4/5, P4 and M1 broad, quadrate with large surface, tail reduced to a rudiment, membranes attached on the second toe, fur much longer compared to Cynopterus, and grooved upper canines without cingulum cusps. Thoopterus nigrescens has been recorded from Morotai in the North Moluccas (the type locality) and Sulawesi. Bergmans and Rozendaal (1988) and Suyanto et al. (1998) reported it occurring on the Sangihe Talaud Islands. Boeadi and Saim collected this species from Sula and Kabaena, Buton in 1991 and 2002, and from Wowoni Islands in 2005 which were then deposited in the Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense (MZB). Bergmans and Rozendaal (1988) reported that specimens from South-West Sulawesi (Bantimurung and Malino) were larger than that from northern Sulawesi and may represent a new taxon. Thoopterus nigrescens has previously been reported from sea level up to 1,780 m (Bergmans and Rozendaal 1988). During a 2000–2001 survey, however, we found T. nigrescens to be most common at even higher altitudes of Nokilalaki and Rorekatimbu-Lore Lindu National Park: 2,100 m and 2,200 m, respectively DOI: 10.18195/issn.0312-3162.27(1). 2012.068-084 NEW SULAWESI FRUIT BAT 69 FIGURE 1 Collection localities of Thoopterus spp. used in this study, T. nigrescens (▲) and T. suhaniahae sp. nov. ( ). crown width (P4W). External: forearm length (FA), head and body length (HBL), tail length (TAIL), ear length (EAR), tibia length (TIBIA), metacarpal 2 length (P2), metacarpal 2 phalanx 1 length (P2_1), metacarpal 3 length (P3), metacarpal 3 phalanx 1 length (P3_1), digit 4 phalanx 1 length (P4_1), metacarpal 5 length (P5), metacarpal 5 phalanx 1 length (P5_1). Adults were identif ied as those specimens with basioccipital and basisphenoid bones completely fused and epiphyseal swelling of metacarpal joints absent. Sexual dimorphism in skull and external characters was analyzed by a 2-way ANOVA. We tested for sexual dimorphism and morphological characters using canonical discriminant function analyses (DFA) of Thoopterus groups. Multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) was run separately for craniodental and external characters. Colour terminology follows Kornerup and Wanscher (1984). Specimens discussed here are deposited in the Natural History Museum, London (BMNH) and the Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense, Cibinong Bogor (MZB).