Roost Observations and Classification of Miniopterus in Madai Cave, Sabah, East Malaysia

概要

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We carried out observations on the roosts and colonies of Miniopterus in Madai Cave, southeastern Sabah, East Malaysia, as well as a morphological study of the specimens collected in the cave. Two miniopterine bats, M. australis and M. schreibersi, have been previously reported from the cave. But we have found that the latter can be divided into two forms, the M-form and the L-form, as follows: 1) in all dimensions of the skull and external characters except the 1st digit length and hind foot length, the L-form was distinctly larger than the M-form; 2) the 1st digit of the M-form was significantly longer than that of the L-form, and the hind foot lengths of both forms were almost equal; 3) the width across the upper molars of the L-form was much larger than that in the M-form. From the observations of colonies and roosts in Madai Cave, we found that the bats of these two forms had mostly separate roosting areas, i, e., they were allotopic in roosting. Therefore, we suggest that the two forms are not conspecific; the M-form could be M. schreibersi, as judged by the size and the L-form was similar to M. schreibersi magnater Sanborn, 1931. M. schreiberis magnater is not regarded as a subspecies of M. schreibersi from the reasons mentioned above, and thus should be expressed as M. magnater.
社団法人日本動物学会の論文
1982-06-25