Cynopterus

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Cynopterus
Cynopterus brachyotis
Cynopterus brachyotis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Suborder: Megachiroptera
Family: Pteropodidae
Genus: Cynopterus
Species

See text.

Cynopterus is a genus of megabats. The Cynopterine section is represented by 11 genera[1], five of which occur in Malaysia, namely, Chironx, Balionycteris, Penthetor, Dyacopterus and Cynopterus. 30 names for Cynopterus species have been proposed, but only 16 are taxonomically valid forms[2].

Contents

[edit] Cynopterus species

The description of species in the genus Cynopterus will be limited to the five species that are generally recognised and accepted[3]. Thus the genus Cynopterus is represented in the Indo-Malayan region by C. brachyotis, C. horsfieldi, C. sphinx, C. titthaecheilus, and C. nusatenggara[3].

[edit] Cynopterus brachyotis

The Cynopterus brachyotis [1] type specimen was collected from the Dewei River in Borneo by Müller on 12 September 1836[3], Naga Cave near Jammut on the Teweh River, Borneo (as communicated by Dr C. Smeenk to this author in 2005). Vernacularly known as the short-nosed fruit bat, it is a small bat (weight 21-32 g, 0.7-1 oz) that occurs in most habitats (but most frequently in disturbed forest) including lower montane forest, dipterocarp forest, gardens, mangrove and strand vegetation[4]. It prefers to roost in small groups in trees, under leaves, and in caves. C. brachyotis is widely distributed in Sri Lanka, southwest India, northeast India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, southern China, southern Burma, Indochina, Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Bali, Sulawesi, the Philippines and also on the Lesser Sunda Islands; from sea level up to 1600 m in Borneo[5][6][7][8][9]

There are nine subspecies of C. brachyotis[10]. The nominate subspecies C. b. brachyotis is distributed in Borneo, Lombok, Peninsular Malaysia, the Philippines and Sulawesi. It is found widespread from sea level to 1,600 meters in altitude[10]. Forearm length is 55-65 mm (2.1-2.6 in), tail length is 8-10 mm (0.3-0.4 in), and ear length is 14-16 mm (0.5-0.6 in) (Payne et al. 1985). C.b. altitudinis is confined to the highlands of Peninsular Malaysia, from the Cameron Highlands to Gunung Bunga Buah[10]. C.b. brachysoma is found on the Andaman Islands; C.b. cylonensis in Sri Lanka; C.b. concolor in Enggano; C.b. hoffetti in Vietnam; C.b. insularum on the Kangean Islands; C.b. javanicus on Java; and C.b. minutus on Nias[10].

Corbet and Hill[8] listed 19 synonyms of C. brachyotis, which include: Pachysoma brachyotis, P. duvaucelii, P. brevicaudatum, P. luzoniense, C. grandidieri, C. marginatus var. scherzeri, C. marginatus var. ceylonensis, C. marginatus var. philippensis, C. marginatus var. cuminggii, C. marginatus var. andamanensis, C. brachyoma, C. montanoi, C. minutus, C. minor, C. babi, C. archipelagus and C. nusatenggara. Kitchener and Maharadatunkamsi[2] considered luzoniensis and minutus as separate species while Hill and Thonglongya[11] transferred angulatus to C. sphinx.

Habitat of large-sized C. brachyotis
Habitat of large-sized C. brachyotis

Hill and Thonglongya[11] observed that the treatments of C. brachyotis and C. sphinx by Andersen[1] were contradictory. Kitchener and Maharadatunkamsi[2] considered C. minutus a species and not a subspecies of C. brachyotis while C. luzoniensis is a species and not a synonym of C. b. brachyotis. Due to these controversies and difficulties surrounding these species, Corbet and Hill[8] suggested that further detailed studies are needed on the taxonomy of these species.

[edit] Cynopterus sphinx

Cynopterus sphinx or the greater short-nosed fruit bat, usually roosts in trees and feeds on nectar and fruit. Its range includes Sri Lanka, India, China, south-east Asia, Sumatra and central Kalimantan[4]. Synonyms include angulatus, babi, gangeticus, pagensis, scherzeri and serasi[3].

[edit] Cynopterus horsfieldi

Cynopterus horsfieldi, or Horsfield's fruit bat, roosts in rock shelters and caves and feeds on fruit. It ranges from Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Gunong Kinabalu and Gunong Gomantong[4].

Habitat at Gomantong
Habitat at Gomantong

Synonyms include: C. harpax, C. lyoni, C. minor, C. persimilis and C. princeps[3].

Habitat at Kinabalu
Habitat at Kinabalu

[edit] Cynopterus titthaecheilus

Cynopterus titthaecheilus is distributed in all habitats, particularly disturbed situations, in Lombok Island, Sumatra, Java, Krakatau, Timor and Sebesi Island (Kitchener et al. 1990).

Synonyms include: C. major and C. terminus[3].

[edit] Cynopterus nusatenggara

Cynopterus nusatenggara is common in both natural and disturbed situations in Lombok, Sumbawa, Mayo Flores, Sumba and Komodo islands[2][3].

[edit] MtDNA Analysis of Cynopterus species

Recently, it was discovered that the phylogeny on Cynopterus species is discordant[12][13][14] with the classical hypothesis by Andersen[1] or the present knowledge on fruit bat classification by Corbet and Hill[8], Wilson and Reeder[3] and Schmitt et al[15]. MtDNA sequence divergence is very high at about 9%-12% among two major lineages of C. brachyotis and the two putative taxa within C. brachyotis populations were not sister taxa. There was correspondence between the genetic lineages with the ecological habitat and morphological characteristics of the short-nosed fruit bats. C. brachyotis I (Cb I) is morphologically larger and inhabits open habitats and C. brachyotis II (Cb II) is smaller and occurs in closed forest. The two lineages co-exist in forest edge habitats. The deep branch of Cb I suggests an older lineage compared to Cb II, which may probably have evolved later. Cb II, which is a derived form, is however more closely related to its congenerics C. horsfieldi and C. sphinx, which also occur in closed forests across the Sunda Shelf region. Recently, there are evidences to show of possible mixing of the smal and large forms at the ecotone region which should be investigated using nuclear DNA.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Andersen K. 1912. Catalogue of the chiroptera in the collection of the British Museum. Second edition, British Museum of Natural History.
  2. ^ a b c d Kitchener DJ, Maharadatunkamsi. 1991. Description of a new species of Cynopterus (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) from Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Research Western Australian Museum 15(2):307-363.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Wilson DE, Reeder DM. 1993. Mammal species of the world: a taxonomic and geographical reference. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington.
  4. ^ a b c Payne J, Francis CM, Phillipps K. 1985. A field guide to the mammals of Borneo. The Sabah Society and World Wildlife Fund Malaysia, Kota Kinabalu.
  5. ^ Lekagul B, McNeely JA. 1977. Mammals of Thailand. Sahankarnbhat, Bangkok.
  6. ^ Medway L. 1978. The wild mammals of Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia) and Singapore. Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpur.
  7. ^ Bergmans W, Rozendaal FG. 1988. Notes on collections of fruit bats from Sulawasi and some off-lying islands (Mammalia, Megachiroptera). Zoologische Verhandelingen 248:1-74.
  8. ^ a b c d Corbet GB, Hill JE. 1992. The mammals of the Indomalayan region: a systematic review. Oxford University Press.
  9. ^ Peterson AT, Heaney LR. 1993. Genetic differentiation in Philippines bats of the genera Cynopterus and Haplonycteris. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 49:203-218.
  10. ^ a b c d Mickleburg SP, Hutson AM, Racey PA. 1992. Old world fruit bats: an action plan for their conservation. IUCN/FFPS/ZSL/WWF/JWPT/NWF/Sultanate of Oman.
  11. ^ a b Hill JE, Thonglongya K. 1972. Bats from Thailand and Cambodia. Bulletin British Museum of Natural History (Zoology) 22:171-196.
  12. ^ Abdullah MT, Moritz C, Grigg GC., Hall LS. 2000. Evidence of cryptic species within Cynopterus brachyotis by using mtDNA sequence. In Yaacob Z, Moo-Tan S, Yorath S (eds) In situ and ex situ Biodiversity Conservation. Yayasan Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia.
  13. ^ Abdullah MT. 2003. Biogeography and variation of Cynopterus brachyotis in Southeast Asia. PhD Thesis (Zoology). Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Australia.
  14. ^ Campbell, P., C. J. Schneider, et al. 2004. Phylogeny and phylogeography of Old World fruit bats in the Cynopterus brachyotis complex. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
  15. ^ Schmitt LH, Kitchener DJ, How RA. 1995. A genetic perspective of mammalian variation and evolution in the Indonesian archipelago: biogeographic correlates in the fruit bat genus Cynopterus. Evolution 49(3):399-412.

[edit] Bibliography

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Abdullah MT, Hall LS. 1997. Abundance and distribution of fruit bats and other mammals in the tropical forest canopy in Borneo. Sarawak Museum Journal 72:63-74.

Abdullah MT. 1998. An unusual case of Western tarsier Tarsius bancanus preying on fruit bats in Borneo. ARBEC e-journal 1:1-6.

Abdullah MT, Charlie J. Laman, Andrew Alek Tuen & Besar Ketol. 2003. Assessing the relationship between species diversity and methods of observation of bats adjacent to Fairy Cave, Bau, Sarawak. UNIMAS-SBC Seminar on Bau Limestone, October 2003.

Abdullah MT, Abang Arabi Abang Aimran & Andrew Alek Tuen. Biodiversity and conservation of chiroptera in the Gunung Berumput-Pueh mountainous complex, Sarawak. In A.A. Tuen (ed) Diversity and Conservation of Biological Resources in Western Sarawak, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Kota Samarahan, Malaysia. Unpublished report.

Bank E. 1981. More mammals from Borneo. Brunei Museum Journal 4(4): 262-273.

Francis CM. 1990. Trophic structure of bat communities in the understorey of lowland dipterocarp rain forest in Malaysia. Journal of Tropical Ecology 6:421-431.

Hall LS, Abdullah MT. 1998. Bagging bats in Borneo. Geo 20(2): 9-10.

Hall LS, Richards GC, Abdullah MT. 2002. The bats of Niah National Park, Sarawak. Sarawak Museum Journal. 78: 255-282.

Hall LS, Gordon G. Grigg, Craig Moritz, Besar Ketol, Isa Sait, Wahab Marni and M.T. Abdullah. 2004. Biogeography of fruit bats in Southeast Asia. Sarawak Museum Journal 80:191-284.

Heaney LR. 1986. Biogeography of mammals in southeast Asia: estimate of rates of colonisation, extinction, and speciation. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 28:127-165

Hill JE. 1983. Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) from Indo-Australia. Bulletin British Museum of Natural History (Zoology) 45(3):103-208.

Karim, C., A.A. Tuen and M.T. Abdullah. 2004. Mammals. Sarawak Museum Journal Special Issue No. 6. 80: 221—234.

Kitchener DJ, Maharadatunkamsi. 1996. Geographic variation in morphology of Cynopterus nusatenggara (Chiroptera, Pteropodidae) in southeastern Indonesia, and description of two new subspecies. Mammalia, 60(2):255-276.

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Kumaran JV., C.J. Laman, M.T. Abdullah. 2004. Morphological variation in the genus Cynopterus of Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo. Regional Conference on Environmental and Ecological Modeling, School of Mathematical Sciences and School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia on the 15-16 September 2004.

Lim BL. 1966. Abundance and distribution of Malayan bats in different ecological habitats. Federation Museum Journal 11:62-74.

Lim BL. 1970. Food habits and breeding cycle of the Malaysian fruit-eating bat, Cynopterus brachyotis. Journal of Mammalogy 51(1):174-177.

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Storz, J. F., H. R. Bhat, and T. H. Kunz. 2001. Genetic consequences of polygyny and social structure in an Indian fruit bat, Cynopterus sphinx, I. Inbreeding, outbreeding, and population subdivision. Evolution, 55: 1215-1223.

Storz, J. F., and M. A. Beaumont. 2002. Testing for genetic evidence of population expansion and contraction: an empirical analysis of microsatellite DNA variation using a hierarchical Bayesian model. Evolution, 56: 154-166.

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Zubaid A. 1993. A comparison of the bat fauna between a primary and fragmented secondary forest in Peninsular Malaysia. Mammalia 57(2):201-206.

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[edit] External links