Grandidier's trident bat

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Grandidier's trident bat
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Rhinonycteridae
Genus: Paratriaenops
Species:
P. auritus
Binomial name
Paratriaenops auritus
(Grandidier, 1912)
Paratriaenops distribution.png
Distribution of P. auritus (blue), P. furcula (red) and P. pauliani (green)
Synonyms
  • Triaenops auritaGrandidier, 1912
  • Triaenops auritus: Peterson et al., 1995
  • Paratriaenops auritus: Benda and Vallo, 2009

Grandidier's trident bat (Paratriaenops auritus) is a species of bat in the family Hipposideridae endemic to Madagascar. It was formerly assigned to the genus Triaenops , but is now placed in the separate genus Paratriaenops .

Contents

Taxonomy

Guillaume Grandidier first described the species in 1912, as Triaenops aurita, on the basis of a single poorly preserved specimen collected at Diégo-Suarez (now Antsiranana) in northernmost Madagascar. [2] In his 1939 list of African mammals, Glover Morrill Allen placed the species as a synonym of Triaenops furcula (now Paratriaenops furcula ) of western Madagascar, [3] and in his 1948 review of the genus Triaenops, Jean Dorst concurred, as did John Edwards Hill, who reviewed the genus in 1982. [4] In their 1995 study of Madagascar bats, however, R.L. Peterson and colleagues reinstated it as a species. They also changed the specific name to auritus, presumably for gender agreement with the generic name Triaenops. [5]

Julie Ranivo and Steven Goodman revised Madagascar Triaenops in 2006 and clarified the distinction between T. auritus of northern Madagascar and the closely related T. furculus of western Madagascar, which have nonoverlapping ranges. [4] Their paper reported the first new material of the species since its original description. [6] They described a third species of this group in 2008—Triaenops pauliani (now Paratriaenops pauliani ) from Aldabra in the nearby Seychelles. [7] In 2007 and 2008, Amy Russell and colleagues investigated the relationships among Triaenops species using DNA sequence data; they confirmed the relationship between T. auritus and T. furculus and their status as distinct species. [8] In view of the significant differences between the T. furculus group and other species of Triaenops, Petr Benda and Peter Villa removed the former in 2009 to a separate genus, Paratriaenops . [9] Triaenops still includes the Malagasy species Triaenops menamena (formerly Triaenops rufus), which is widespread in western Madagascar and overlaps with P. auritus and P. furcula in range, [10] and Triaenops goodmani , an extinct species described in 2007 [11] that may also be related to Paratriaenops. [12]

Description

Paratriaenops auritus is a large-eared, short-tailed bat. [13] The fur is reddish gold and is darker above than below. [14] Both males and females are significantly larger than individuals of P. furcula. [15] On its face are the three lancets at the back of the noseleaf that are characteristic of Triaenops and Paratriaenops. As in P. furcula, the three lancets are straight and about equal in length; in Triaenops, the middle lancet is longer and the outer two are curved. [16]

Distribution and ecology

P. auritus has a small range in far northern Madagascar, perhaps south to the Andrafiamena Mountains. It is relatively abundant in its range and occurs in dry forests. It roosts in caves, and the largest colony contains an estimated 2000 bats. [1]

Conservation status

The IUCN Red List lists P. auritus (as Triaenops auritus) as "Vulnerable" because of its small, fragmented, and declining range. Agricultural activities in particular are causing habitat destruction and fragmentation, and disturbance of its cave roosts may pose another threat. However, it occurs in three protected areasRéserve Spéciale d'Ankarana, Réserve Spéciale d'Analamerana, and a forest at Daraina. The IUCN recommends that conservation efforts be focused on monitoring and protecting the known cave roosts. [1]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kolar leaf-nosed bat</span> Endanged species of bat found in India

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<i>Triaenops</i> Genus of bats

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<i>Paratriaenops furcula</i> Species of bat

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hipposideridae</span> Family of bats

The Hipposideridae are a family of bats commonly known as the Old World leaf-nosed bats. While it has often been seen as a subfamily, Hipposiderinae, of the family Rhinolophidae, it is now more generally classified as its own family. Nevertheless, it is most closely related to Rhinolophidae within the suborder Yinpterochiroptera.

<i>Triaenops goodmani</i> Species of mammal

Triaenops goodmani is an extinct bat from Madagascar in the genus Triaenops. It is known from three lower jaws collected in a cave at Anjohibe in 1996, and described as a new species in 2007. The material is at most 10,000 years old. A bat humerus from the same site could not be identified as either T. goodmani or the living T. menamena. T. goodmani is identifiable as a member of Triaenops or the related genus Paratriaenops by a number of features of the teeth, such as the single-cusped, canine-like fourth premolar and the presence of a gap between the entoconid and hypoconulid cusps on the first two molars. T. goodmani is larger than the living species of Triaenops and Paratriaenops on Madagascar, and on the first molar the protoconid cusp is only slightly higher than the hypoconid, not much higher as in the other species.

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<i>Miniopterus griveaudi</i> Bat in the family Miniopteridae from the Comoros and Madagascar

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<i>Paratriaenops</i> Genus of bat

Paratriaenops is a genus in the bat family Hipposideridae. It is classified in the tribe Triaenopini, along with the closely related genus Triaenops and perhaps the poorly known Cloeotis. The species of Paratriaenops were placed in Triaenops until 2009. Paratriaenops currently contains the following species:

<i>Paratriaenops pauliani</i> Species of bat from Aldabra Atoll

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhinonycteridae</span> Family of bats

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Monadjem, A.; Andriafidison, D.; Cardiff, S.G.; Goodman, S.; Hutson, A.M.; Jenkins, R.K.B.; Kofoky, A.; Racey, P.A.; Ranivo, J.; Ratrimomanarivo, F.H.; Razafimanahaka, J. (2017). "Paratriaenops auritus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T40025A22064746. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T40025A22064746.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Ranivo and Goodman, 2006, pp. 964–965
  3. Allen, 1939, p. 82
  4. 1 2 Ranivo and Goodman, 2006, p. 964
  5. Simmons, 2005, p. 378
  6. Ranivo and Goodman, 2006, p. 965
  7. Goodman and Ranivo, 2008, p. 681
  8. Russell et al., 2007, fig. 2; 2008
  9. Benda and Villa, 2009, p. 34
  10. Russell et al., 2007, fig. 1
  11. Samonds, 2007, p. 46
  12. Russell et al., 2008, p. 1001
  13. Garbutt, 2007, p. 72
  14. Goodman and Ranivo, 2008, p. 688
  15. Ranivo and Goodman, 2006, pp. 969–970
  16. Goodman and Ranivo, 2008, p. 686; Benda and Vallo, 2009, p. 33