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

description: 26. Rhinolophus midas, sp. n. (Plate <b>IV.</b> <i>fig</i>. 20«, 6, <i>c</i>, cZ.) deltoid, rounded. Forearm <b>37</b> '7 mm. <i>Details.</i> Horse-shoe as broad as the upper lip; no <i>“</i> tooth <i>”</i> on the sides of the median notch; no crenulation of the border. Lateral margins of sella converging from base to tip; breadth at base (2'3 mm.) much more than half the vertical height of the sella (3 <b>’</b> 5 mm.); a very slight (rather easily overlooked) constriction at the middle; summit rounded (breadth 1'6 mm.). Connecting process very low, and broadly rounded oil’. Lancet long (4 mm.) and cuneate. One mental groove only. <b>Ears</b> a little longer than in <i>minor</i>, outer margin immediately below the tip somewhat more emarginate; tip more distinctly pointed. Wing-structure, compared with that of <i>minor,</i> considerably structure, and the mental grooves (Andersen, Ann. &amp; <i>Mag</i>. Nat. Hist. (7) xvi. Sept. 1905, pp. 291-92). <i>IZh. maclaudi</i> is an Ethiopian representative of the <i>IZh. philippinensis</i> group, but on a considerably higher stage of development in the same respects as the species just named (<i>I'd</i>., tom. <i>cit.</i> Aug. 1905, pp. 254- <b>55).</b> This completes the account, showing <b>that</b> <i>all the Ethiopian JZhinolophi,</i> without <b> exception, <i>are</i></b> of Oriental origin. modified, chiefly in two respects:—(1) <i>the third metacarpal is shortened;</i> but at the same time the fourth metacarpal has remained the longest (as in all primitive species of <i>Rhinolophus');</i> (2) III.2, IV.2, and <i>V</i>.2, that is all the distal phalanges, are lengthened. Compare the table of measurements of <i>Rh. midas</i> and <i>hipposiderus</i> on the one side, with those of <i>minor, lepidus,</i> and all their allies on the other (see p. 143). Tail rather long, lg the length of the leg. Plagiopatagium inserted on the ankle-joint. Colour (somewhat faded in alcohol) probably as light as in <i>Rh. blasii. Skull.</i> In all species of <i>Rhinolophus</i> the cochleae are large, making a narrow basioccipital (compare the genus <i>Hipposiderus);</i> but in <i>Rh. midas</i> and <i>hipposiderus</i> the peculiarity is carried to an extreme: <i>the cochleae are so much increased in size as to reduce the basioccipital to a linear bridge of bone;</i> in some individuals (of <i>Rh. hipposiderus)</i> the cochleae are <i>almost</i> in contact. This character alone makes the skull of these two species easily distinguishable, at a glance. But in every other respect, in the shape, the size, and the teeth, the skull is so exceedingly like that of <i>Rh. minor,</i> that there can scarcely be any doubt as to the very close relationship of the <i>minor</i> and <i>midas</i> types. <i>Dentition.</i> On the <i>minor</i> stage:—p3 external. A very narrow interspace between p2 and p4. p2 quite in row; a small cusp, pointing inwards. Upper canine and p'1 well separated. Typ <i>&gt;e.</i> &amp;female; ad. (in alcohol). Jask, Persian Gulf. Presented by A. Butcher, Esq. Brit. Mus. no. 94.11.16.1. <i>Remarks.</i> The discovery of this highly interesting species seems to remove all doubt as to the close affinities of <i>minor</i> and <i>hipposiderus.</i> The sella of <i>midas</i> is intermediate between that of <i>minor</i> and <i>hipposiderus;</i> it recalls that of empusa and <i>blasii,</i> which also are modifications of the minor-type; to the <i>peculiarly</i> long and cuneate lancet we have a parallel in one of the modifications of the minor-type described in this paper, viz. <i>Rh. gracilis.</i> The geographical habitat of <i>midas</i> is, too, rather intermediate between the Oriental <i>minor</i> and the W. Palaearctic <i>hipposiderus. Rh. midas</i> is, of course, readily distinguishable from <i>Rh. hijyposiderus</i> by the shape of the sella. In the width of the brain-case, as well as in external dimensions, it is like the <i>southern,</i> more primitive form of <i>hipposiderus (Rh. h. minimus).</i>
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 138-139, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3757451