Rhinolophus stheno Andersen 1905, sp. n.
Creators: name: Andersen, Knud
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 1905
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Chiroptera
Rhinolophidae
Rhinolophus
Rhinolophus stheno

description: 10. Rhinolophus stheno, sp. n. (Plate III. fig. 8, <i>a. b.)</i> <i>Diagnosis.</i> Allied to <i>Rh.</i> borneensis,anterior nasal swellings much more projecting. Lower leg long: 19'8-20'8 mm. Tail extremely short: 15'5-17'8 mm. Slightly larger than <i>borneensis:</i> forearm 45'2-48 mm. <i>Details.</i> This is a third modification of the <i>borneensis</i> type, in several respects recalling <i>Rh. nereis,</i> in others quite peculiar. The shape of the facial portion of the skull is unique within the present group. As in <i>Rh. nereis,</i> III.2 is lengthened, IV.L shortened: 7 <i>«</i> the tail is extremely c short. The general size of the animal is slightly increased. Plagiopatagium inserted 1-3 mm. above the ankle-joint. <i>Colour.</i> &amp;male; ad., Penang; teeth unworn; skin.—General im­ pression: reddish brown above; under side much lighter, con­ trasting with the upper side. “ Mars-brown " above; base of _ hairs c? light “ drab; under side almost tl broccoli-brown. <i>—</i> Three spirit-specimens (Selangor; teeth unworn) apparently agree in colour with the skin. <i>Skull</i> (three individuals). Owing to the much more projecting anterior nasals wellings, the skull of <i>Rh. stheno,</i> in side view, is strikingly different from that of <i>Rh. borneensis.</i> This peculiarity * The tip of the ears and the posterior nose-leaf are damaged; forearms broken. in its outline is produced, not by a heightening of the anterior swellings, but by a reduction of the posterior pair; these latter, which in all the allied species form a sort of transition between the anterior swellings and the adjacent part of the supraorbital crests and interorbital constriction, are in <i>stheno</i> so much reduced as to leave the anterior swellings more isolated, <i>i. e.,</i> more <i>abruptly</i> projecting. <i>Dentition.</i> p3 external; p <i>„</i> and p4 in contact; p2 in row, cusp extremely small. <i>Measurements.</i> Below. <i>Type.</i> &amp;male; ad. (in alcohol). Selangor, Malay Peninsula. Presented by H. N. Ridley, Esq.. Brit. Mus. no. 98.3.13.1. <i>Distribution.</i> Selangor; Penang. <i>Remarks. Rh. stheno</i> differs from <i>Rh. borneensis</i> in the series of characters pointed out above. From <i>Rh. nereis,</i> in the shape of the facial portion of the skull, the much slenderer brain-case, and the shorter tooth-rows. From <i>Rh. rouXi,</i> in the shape of the facial portion of the skull; the much shorter metacarpals (although the forearm is of the same length as in smaller individuals of <i>rouXi);</i> the long III.2 (compared with III.1); the short IV.1 (compared with the fourth metacarpal); the excessively short tail; and the smaller hind foot. Phylogenetically, <i>Rh. stheno</i> is evidently more closely connected with <i>Rh. nereis</i> than with any other hitherto known Bat. To call the resemblance between these two species (in III.2, IV.1, the tail) “ convergence, <i>”</i> would be a phrase only, not an explanation. There can scarcely be any doubt that the type of <i>Rhinolophus</i> to which the now existing <i>Rh. borneensis</i> belongs, sent off a branch <i>westwards</i>; a part of this branch, isolated on the Anambas Islands, developed into <i>Rh. nereis</i>; another part, in the Malay Peninsula, into <i>Rh. stheno</i> (cf. the diagram on p. 120).
description: Published as part of <i>Andersen, Knud, 1905, On some Bats of the Genus Rhinolophus, with Remarks on their Mutual Affinities, and Descriptions of Twenty-six new Forms., pp. 75-145 in Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 2</i> on pages 91-93, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3757451