Murina suilla

Ecology. M. suilla was captured on Mindoro Island in regenerating lowland dipterocarp forest (490 m) with a dense ground cover of ferns, gingers, and giant taro (Alocasia sp.). Two females were captured in February, and one was pregnant. Both were captured in mist nets. Genetic Analyses. Cytochrome b and DBY sequences are available on GenBank for specimens listed in Appendices 2 and 3. Relative divergences among Philippine species is discussed below.

Sumber: Systematics and biogeography of tube-nosed bats, Murina (Mammalia, Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae), from the Philippines with descriptions of six new species

Description. Fur on the dorsum is grey at the base with pale mid band and dark brown tips. Ventrally this species is unicolour buff on the mid-belly and bicoloured laterally with grey-based hairs and dark brown tips. Wings are dark brown in colour. Tail membrane is hairy, especially along the tail vertebrae. Conformation of upper and lower molars typical of M. suilla without reduced mesostyles on M 1 and M 2 and large talonids on M 1 and M 2 (Figs. 3 A, B). See Tables 1 and 2 A, 2 B for selected external and skull measurements. Comparison with M. philippinensis. M. suilla from Mindoro has darker wings, more hairy tail membrane, and differs in colour, having dark brown tips dorsally and dark tips on the lateral portions of the belly. M. philippinensis is reddish brown dorsally and buff coloured ventrally. Although the two species differ in colour, they share the dorsal tri-coloured banding pattern and tooth morphology. Size comparisons given above. Other Records. Murina cf. suilla Palawan: (9 27 48 N, 118 32 16 E) was caught at the ‘‘ rain forestation’ ’ site in Sitio Kandis, Aborlan Municipality, in forest / grassland mosaic at ca. 40 m, about seven km away from the next good secondary forest in the foothills of the Victoria Range (Esselstyn et al. 2004). Esselstyn et al. (2004) recorded this specimen (Staatliches Museum fur Naturkunde Stuttgart SMNS 49238) as Murina cf tubinaris from Palawan and although the identification of this specimen cannot be confirmed, it is more likely to be M. suilla than M. tubinaris. M. tubinaris is now referred to as M. feae (see Francis & Eger 2012; holotype from Myanmar). Records of M. feae are restricted to mainland SE Asia, from India to China. Similar to M. suilla, M. feae has tricoloured fur dorsally and bicoloured fur ventrally. The holotype of M. suilla is from Java. Specimens from Java and Borneo are small (FA 29 – 30 range), whereas the two Mindoro specimens are larger (FA 33 – 34), similar in size to the Palawan specimen. Identification of the specimen from Palawan should be regarded as provisional. We make the species assignment primarily based on the presence of M. suilla on Borneo and Mindoro, which lie at either end of Palawan. Also, it should be noted that Palawan has none of the endemic species of pteropodids that are otherwise restricted to the oceanic islands of the Philippines (Heaney, 1991; Esselstyn et al. 2004), so that finding M. philippinensis on Palawan would be surprising. Further investigation is warranted.