Miniopterus phillipsi Kusuminda & Mannakkara & Ukuwela & Kruskop & Amarasinghe & Saikia & Venugopal & Karunarathna & Gamage & Ruedi & Csorba & Yapa & Patterson 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Kusuminda, Tharaka
name: Mannakkara, Amani
name: Ukuwela, Kanishka D. B.
name: Kruskop, Sergei V.
name: Amarasinghe, Chamara J.
name: Saikia, Uttam
name: Venugopal, Parvathy
name: Karunarathna, Mathisha
name: Gamage, Rajika
name: Ruedi, Manuel
name: Csorba, Gábor
name: Yapa, Wipula B.
name: Patterson, Bruce D.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Chiroptera
Miniopteridae
Miniopterus
Miniopterus phillipsi

description: Miniopterus phillipsi sp. nov.
Phillips’s Long fingered Bat
Synonymy
Miniopterus schreibersii Blanford, 1891 (in part): not Vespertilio schreibersii Kuhl, 1817.
Miniopterus fuliginosus Tian et al., 2004 (in part): not Vespertilio fuliginosus Hodgson, 1835.
Holotype
NMSL 2021.03.01.NH (field no. TK0122), collected by Tharaka Kusuminda and Mathisha Karunarathne on 29 January 2019. An adult female preserved in 70% alcohol and deposited at National Museum of Sri Lanka, the skull has been extracted and cleaned. There is a scar on left shoulder of the specimen made while collecting the tissue sample. Its partial COI sequence is available from GenBank as accession OL688878.
Type locality
Idulgashinna cave, near Idulgashinna railway station (6.779131 N, 80.896704 E; 1590 m a.s.l. — Fig. 3 and Supplementary Fig. S 2), at an edge of Dunkanda division of Bio Tea Garden tea plantation in the Badulla District, Uva Province, Sri Lanka. The holotype was collected in a harp trap set in front of the cave entrance.
Paratypes
Two adult male specimens NMSL 2021.03.02.NH and NMSL 2021.03.03.NH, collected at the same locality as the holotype on 29 January 2019 (Fig. 4). These two specimens are currently preserved in 70% alcohol at National Museum of Sri Lanka. Tongue muscle of NMSL 2021.03.02.NH was preserved in 99% ethanol. The skulls were extracted and cleaned. The paratypes were not sequenced.
Referred specimens
Two specimens (NMSL 177C and NWRTC TK156) were collected from mid-elevations in Kegalle District of Central Sri Lanka (a cave in Sandaraja forest, Doteloya, Aranayaka, Sri Lanka on 02 January 2019). These two specimens have not been sequenced for COI gene, but one (NMSL 177C) has been sequenced for the mitochondrial 16S gene and was determined to be the same species (T. Kusuminda, A. Mannakkara, K. D. B. Ukuwela, M. Karunarathna, B. D. Patterson, and W. B. Yapa, In litt.). Moreover, these two specimens are morphologically identifiable as M. phillipsi sp. nov. by LDA. A biopsy punch was obtained from a Miniopterus captured and released (field no. TK0064) near the Tea Research Institute in Nuwara Eliya District (Talawakele, Sri Lanka on 02 October 2018). This individual’s COI sequence (GenBank no. OL688877) was 98% similar to the holotype’s sequence, hence it was identified as M. phillipsi sp. nov. Another three specimens (NMSL 177D, NWRTC TK117 and HZM 263.29194) were collected from Wavulgalge cave, Nikapitiya, Wellwaya (Moneragala District of Sri Lanka) and four specimens (NMSL 177E, HZM 260.27644, HZM 261.27645 and HZM 262.29137) were collected from Wavulpane cave, Pallebedda (Ratnapura District of Sri Lanka). These seven specimens have not been sequenced but morphological similarities and LDA assignments provisionally assign them to M. phillipsi sp. nov. Likewise, 18 specimens collected from Western India (HZM 258.25669, HZM 254.25009, HNHM 92.156.1– HNHM 92.124.16) have not been sequenced but were identified morphologically as M. phillipsi sp. nov. using LDA; they were obtained from the same colony where a genotyped individual for COI gene (GenBank no. MG 821206 — C. Srinivasulu, B. Srinivasulu, T. A. Shah, and G. Devender, unpublished data) was collected, i.e. Robbers’ Cave, near Mahabaleswar, Maharashtra, India (Fig. 3).
Etymology
This species is named after W. W. A. Phillips (William Watt Addison Phillips, 1892–1981) in recognition of his immense contributions to studies on the mammals of Sri Lanka and South Asia. Phillips was born and grew up in England and he was a nature lover since his childhood. He was a tea planter by profession and came to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1911.
Diagnosis
Miniopterus phillipsi sp. nov. is distinguished by its intermediate size from both smaller and larger congeners in India and Sri Lanka. M. pusillus is much smaller than M. phillipsi sp. nov. in the external measurements TIB (<18 mm), FA (<43 mm), d 3m (<40 mm), d 4m (<38 mm) and d 5m (<36 mm) and in skull length (GSKL <14.7 mm). M. phillipsi sp. nov. is distinguished from M. magnater by the latter’s larger external measurements (HB> 56 mm and d 3m> 46 mm) and skull size (GLSK> 16.4 mm — Tables 3 and 4). The new species is generally smaller than M. fuliginosus in both external and cranial dimensions, although there is slight overlap (Figs. 5–7). There are significant differences between M. phillipsi sp. nov. and M. fuliginosus in GSKL (P <0.001), ZYW (P = 0.026), MAW (P <0.001), BCW (P = 0.046), LW (P = 0.001), ML (P = 0.001), M3–M3 (P = 0.002), C–M3 (P = 0.002), I1–M3 (P = 0.001) and i1–m3 (P <0.001). In all of these craniodental characters, M. fuliginosus is larger than M. phillipsi sp. nov. (Tables 4 and 5). Miniopterus phillipsi sp. nov. also differs significantly from M. fuliginosus in the ratio of tibia to forearm length (TIB/FA; P = 0.002) and the ratio of second phalanx of third digit to third metacarpal (d3mp2/d 3m; P = 0.023). In M. phillipsi sp. nov., TIB/FA ratio is usually higher (median: 42.16%, range: 41.1–43.9%) than in M. fuliginosus (40.78%, 39.6–42.1%), whereas d3mp2/d 3m ratio is lower (83.27%, 79.3–90.4% versus 88.55%, 81.6– 90.9%, respectively). The tragus of M. phillipsi sp. nov. is medium-sized in both length and width. The tragus of M. magnater is longer, broader, and more pointed towards the tip than the other three species in India and Sri Lanka. The middle of the tragus is much broader than its base and tip in M. magnater (slightly broader in M. phillipsi sp. nov.). The tragus of M. fuliginosus has parallel margins along most of its length, as does that of M. pusillus. However, the tragus of M. pusillus is shorter in length and barely curved forward compared to the other three species (Fig. 8).
Description
Miniopterus phillipsi sp. nov. is a medium-sized bat (FA 44–49 mm) exhibiting the typical features of the genus i.e. an elongated second phalanx of the third digit, short and rounded ears, high forehead, short and broad muzzle, and slender and slightly curved tragus with rounded tip (Supplementary Fig. S3). Tail length approximately equals head-andbody length (Table 3). The ear is relatively short and rounded (ca. 12 mm in length) and not readily distinguishable from that of M. fuliginosus (Table 3). The tragus is medium sized (5 mm) and slightly curved forward with a rounded tip (Fig. 8). The external measurements of the holotype, paratypes and other specimens of M. phillipsi sp. nov. are given in Table 3. Fur is dense and soft, fairly long above and short below. Fur slightly extending onto the membranes ventrally, but dorsally confined to the body. The pelage is chocolate-brown above and slightly paler on the under parts (Supplementary Fig. S4). Individual hairs are the same color throughout. The skull of M. phillipsi sp. nov. has a wide rostrum and round braincase typical of the genus (Figs. 5–7). Cranial measurements for the holotype and paratypes of M. phillipsi sp. nov. are shown in Table 4. The dentition of M. phillipsi sp. nov. is I 2/3, C 1/1, P 2/3, M 3/3, which is typical of the genus Miniopterus. Dental measurements of the holotype and paratypes of M. phillipsi sp. nov. are shown in Table 5.
Natural History
This species is distributed from lower to higher elevations (263–1590 m) of wet and intermediate climatic zones of Sri Lanka. The type locality is the highest elevation it was captured (1590 m); specimens captured at Talawakele (1411 m) document its range in the central highlands of Sri Lanka. Specimens captured at Doteloya were roosting in a granite cave at the edge of a tropical wet lowland rainforest (Survey Department of Sri Lanka, 2012). Wellawaya and Pallebedda records lie at lower elevations of intermediate climatic zone of Sri Lanka. In western India, it was recorded from Robbers’ Cave, located in the evergreen forest of Mahabaleshwar region of northern Western Ghats at an elevation of 1217 m.
Like other members of this genus, this species apparently prefers to roost in caves and tunnels. Colony sizes of this species are estimated at 1,300 – 1,500 bats in Idulgashinna Cave, 700–1000 bats in Wavulgalge Cave, Wellawaya (Yapa et al., 2005), 50–100 bats in Sandaraja Cave, Doteloya (Kusuminda et al., 2020), 200,000 bats in Wavulpane Cave, Pallebedda (Digana, 2004), and 4,200 bats in Robbers’ Cave, Mahabaleshwar (Korad et al., 2006). Pregnant and lactating females of this species were reported in July and August in Sri Lanka (Digana, 2004; Kusuminda et al., 2018).
DISCUSSION
description: Published as part of Kusuminda, Tharaka, Mannakkara, Amani, Ukuwela, Kanishka D. B., Kruskop, Sergei V., Amarasinghe, Chamara J., Saikia, Uttam, Venugopal, Parvathy, Karunarathna, Mathisha, Gamage, Rajika, Ruedi, Manuel, Csorba, Gábor, Yapa, Wipula B. & Patterson, Bruce D., 2022, DNA barcoding and morphological analyses reveal a cryptic species of Miniopterus from India and Sri Lanka, pp. 1-17 in Acta Chiropterologica 24 (1) on pages 4-13, DOI: 10.3161/15081109ACC2022.24.1.001, http://zenodo.org/record/7734781