Balionycteris maculata (Thomas 1893)

FAISAL ALI ANWARALI KHAN, VICKI J. SWIER, SERGIO SOLARI, PETER A. LARSEN, BESAR KETOL, WAHAP MARNI, SIVANATHAN ELLAGUPILLAY, MAKLARIN LAKIM, MOHAMMAD TAJUDDIN ABDULLAH & ROBERT J. BAKER, 2008, USING GENETICS AND MORPHOLOGY TO EXAMINE SPECIES DIVERSITY OF OLD WORLD BATS: REPORT OF A RECENT COLLECTION FROM MALAYSIA, Occasional Papers of the Museum 281, pp. 1-30 : 6

Balionycteris maculata (Thomas 1893)

Spotted-winged Fruit Bat (Cecadu Sayap Bertitik)

Specimens examined (7).— Bako NP: TTU 108265 (GenBank EU521596 ), TTU 108266, TTU 108299; Kubah NP: TTU 108312, TTU 108317, TTU 108321; Mt. Penrisen: TTU 108364 .

Type locality.— Malaysia (Borneo) , Sarawak .

Malaysian distribution.—Recorded from Borneo.

Remarks.— Balionycteris maculata is the smallest fruit bat in Borneo (FA: 40-45 mm; weight: 10-15 g). This species was caught using mist nets near rock cliffs in mangrove forests, over ponds, and in open areas near hill edges. A diagnostic feature of this bat is the obvious white to pinkish spots on its wings. These frugivorous bats are commonly found in lowland dipterocarp forest and occasionally at higher elevations. Two subspecies, B. maculata seimundi and B. maculata maculata , have been recognized in Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo, respectively ( Kloss 1921), a taxonomic arrangement followed by many authors (e.g., Payne et al. 1985; Hodgkison and Kunz 2006; Francis 2008). We found a genetic distance of 12% in the cyt- b gene sequences between populations in Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia. Following application of the 5% species level separation proposed by Baker and Bradley (2006), and the morphological variation between Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) and Sumatra ( Indonesia) populations ( Maryanto 2003), we recognize these populations as separate species.