Miniopterus blepotis Bonaparte 1837
Creators: name: Don E. Wilson
name: Russell A. Mittermeier
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Chiroptera
Miniopteridae
Miniopterus
Miniopterus blepotis

description: 10.
Javanese Long-fingered Bat
Miniopterus blepotis
French: Minioptére blépote / German: Java-Langflligelfledermaus / Spanish: Miniéptero de Java
Other common names: Javanese Bent-winged Bat
Taxonomy. Vespertilio blepotis Temminck, 1840,
“ Java,” Indonesia.
Miniopterus blepotis was often considered a subspecies of M. schreibersii. When the schreibersii complex was split, M. blepotis became a valid species clearly different from the rest of Asian and Australian species in the complex: M. fuliginosus, M. eschscholtzi, and M. orianae. This is supported by mtDNA sequence data from New Guinea and assigned to M. blepotis. As with other members of Miniopterus, taxonomic arrangement here should be considered provisional until an overall genetic study is completed. Currently, distribution of M. blepotis is unknown either at the continental level (specimens cited as schreibersii of southern Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand could theoretically be blepotis, magnater, or fuliginosus) or on islands of Melanesia (samples of the Solomon Islands are genetically quite different from blepotis of New Guinea). Itis also unknown if it is actually a complex that includes more than one species. Monotypic.
Distribution. Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, Sulawesi, some Lesser Sunda Is (Lombok and Timor) and Moluccas (Seram, Ambon, and Kai Is), New Guinea and some nearby islands (Waigeo I, Manus I in Admiralty Is, New Ireland I in Bismarck Archipelago, and D’Entrecasteaux Is), and Solomon Is; possibly this species also recorded on mainland SE Asia (Thailand, S Cambodia, and S Vietnam).
Descriptive notes. Head-body 46-63 mm, tail 39-62-5 mm, ear 13-6-14-1 mm, hindfoot 7-10-6 mm, forearm 44-6-51-7 mm; weight 8-8-17-5 g. Forearm length is on average shorter but overlaps the range of the Large Long-fingered Bat (M. magnater). The Javanese Long-fingered Bat has a proportionally smaller tibia (17-1-21-4 mm) relative to its forearm length. Dorsal fur in New Guinea is bicolored, with hairs having dark black-brown bases and pale red-brown or medium brown tips. It occasionally has large reddish patches due to the ammonia effect on pelage in large nursery colonies. Skin of snout, ear, and wing membranesis black. Ears are short, and tragus is short, blunt, and curved slightly forward. Diploid numberis 2n = 46 (Sabah, Borneo).
Habitat. Dry forests, secondary forests, and wet tropical forests from sea level to elevations of ¢. 2900 m.
Food and Feeding. The Javanese Long-fingered Bat has swift direct flight and hunts aerial prey above forest canopies.
Breeding. No information.
Activity patterns. The Javanese Long-fingered Bat is probably mainly nocturnal. It is cave dwelling but also roosts in mines or tunnels.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Colonies ofJavanese Long-fingered Bats are frequently mixed with other species of Miniopterus including the Little Longfingered Bat (M. australis), the Large Long-fingered Bat, the Intermediate Long-fingered Bat (M. medius), and the Great Long-fingered Bat (M. trists).
Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCN Red List. The Javanese Long-fingered Bat was previously included in Schreibers’s Long-fingered Bat (M. schreibersii), which is classified as Near Threatened.
Bibliography. Bonaccorso (1998), Bumrungsri et al. (2006), Corbet & Hill (1992), Francis (2008a), Furman, Oztunc & Coraman (2010), Harada & Kobayashi (1980), Hill (1971c¢, 1983), Maeda (1982), Matveev (2005), Payne et al. (2007), Sramek etal. (2013), Wiantoro (2011), Wiantoro et al. (2017).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Miniopteridae, pp. 674-709 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 696, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5735202