David L. Harrison

Range-wide multilocus phylogeography of the red fox reveals ancient continental divergence, minimal genomic exchange and distinct demographic histories

Widely distributed taxa provide an opportunity to compare biogeographic responses to climatic fluctuations on multiple continents and to investigate speciation. We conducted the most geographically and genomically comprehensive study to date of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), the worlds most widely distributed wild terrestrial carnivore. Analyses of 697 bp of mitochondrial sequence in ~1000 individuals suggested an ancient Middle Eastern origin for all extant red foxes and a 400 kya (SD = 139 kya) origin of the primary North American (Nearctic) clade. Demographic analyses indicated a major expansion in Eurasia during the last glaciation (~50 kya), coinciding with a previously described secondary transfer of a single matriline (Holarctic) to North America. In contrast, North American matrilines (including the transferred portion of Holarctic clade) exhibited no signatures of expansion until the end of the Pleistocene (~12 kya). Analyses of 11 autosomal loci from a subset of foxes supported the colonization time frame suggested by mtDNA (and the fossil record) but, in contrast, reflected no detectable secondary transfer, resulting in the most fundamental genomic division of red foxes at the Bering Strait. Endemic continental Y‐chromosome clades further supported this pattern. Thus, intercontinental genomic exchange was overall very limited, consistent with long‐term reproductive isolation since the initial colonization of North America. Based on continental divergence times in other carnivoran species pairs, our findings support a model of peripatric speciation and are consistent with the previous classification of the North American red fox as a distinct species, V. fulva.

A taxonomic review of Rhinolophus stheno and R. malayanus (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae) from continental Southeast Asia: an evaluation of echolocation call frequency in discriminating between cryptic species

Abstract The taxon Rhinolophus microglobosus is elevated to specific rank on the basis of clearly defined morphometric and acoustic characters which differentiate it from Rhinolophus stheno. It is recorded from Cambodia for the first time. Rhinolophus malayanus exhibits considerable geographical variation in echolocation calls, with apparently two phonic types: a northern population with lower frequency calls and a predominantly southern population with higher frequencies. However, this acoustic divergence is not reflected in any morphometric divergence, and the taxonomic status of the two phonic populations remains unclear. Discriminating characters of all three species are given, together with distribution data and short ecological summaries. The value of echolocation as an indicator of cryptic species and the zoogeographical implications of the study are briefly discussed.

A review of bat research in Thailand with eight new species records for the country

ABSTRACT A review of the literature relating to the history of bat research in Thailand (1821–2006) is included, together with lists of the 119 bat species currently recorded from the country and the 16 that are omitted for lack of supporting data. The geographical distribution within Thailand of the some of the more significant bat field studies (1896–2004) is mapped and briefly discussed. Based on field work conducted in peninsular Thailand in 1993 and 2003–2004, eight bat species (Hipposideros ridleyi, Myotis hermani, Pipistrellus stenopterus, Hesperoptenus tomesi, Murina suilla, Murina aenea, Kerivoula pellucida, and Mops mops) are recorded from the country for the first time; information is provided on their taxonomy, distribution, and ecology. Recommendations are made for further bat studies in Thailand, with emphasis placed on selecting less well known species groups, such as forest bats, in under-researched habitats in neglected geographical areas (for example, the deciduous dipterocarp forests of eastern Thailand and the semi-evergreen forests of peninsular Thailand). A need to develop in-country skills in bat acoustics and taxonomy is also highlighted.

A new species of Kerivoula (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Southeast Asia

ABSTRACT A new species of Kerivoula is described from Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area, Cambodia. It is widely distributed in mainland Southeast Asia, with referred material from 12 additional localities in Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR and Vietnam. Superficially similar to Kerivoula flora, it is distinguished by its flattened skull, a character shared with the larger, recently described, Kerivoula kachinensis. It is known from a variety of habitat types, both pristine and disturbed, including deciduous dipterocarp forest, moist evergreen and semi-evergreen forest, forest on limestone karst and upper montane forest.

A description of a new species of Pipistrellus (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Madagascar with a review of related Vespertilioninae from the island

ABSTRACT Six species of small vespertilionid bat were recently collected in Madagascar. Neoromicia matroka (included by some in Eptesicus) and N. malagasyensis were already recorded from the island. Pipistrellus hesperidus was known but under a different name, P. kuhlii. Neoromicia melckorum is a new species record for the island. Hypsugo anchietae represents a new species and genus record. The last taxon is a previously undescribed species of Pipistrellus, which shows affinities to three South-east and East Asian pipistrelle taxa. In this paper, the new species is described and further information on the taxonomy, distribution, ecology, and behaviour of all six taxa are provided.

A Taxonomic Reassessment of Kerivoula lenis Thomas, 1916 (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) Including a First Record from Peninsular India

In January 2002, a specimen of Kerivoula lenis was collected in Tirunelveli District, southern Tamil Nadu, India. It represents a range extension of over 1950 km. This is the first record of the taxon since its original description from Calcutta in 1916. The taxonomic status of K. lenis is reassessed. It is compared for the first time with K. papillosa and K. flora and more briefly with the nine other species of Kerivoula currently recognised in Asia.

New records of Microchiroptera (Rhinolophidae and Kerivoulinae) from Vietnam and Thailand

ABSTRACT The diversity of Rhinolophidae in Thailand and Vietnam is briefly discussed and the taxonomy of Asian Kerivoulinae, with particular reference to the genus Phoniscus, is reviewed. Four new country records are included: Rhinolophus shameli and Kerivoula kachinensis from Vietnam and Phoniscus jagorii from Vietnam and Thailand. A second record of Phoniscus atrox from Thailand is also discussed.

A New Species of Small Hipposideros (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae) from Myanmar and a Revaluation of the Taxon H. nicobarulae Miller, 1902 from the Nicobar Islands

The taxon Hipposideros nicobarulae is elevated to a distinct species and an amended description is included. It is geographically restricted to the Nicobar Islands in the Andaman Sea where it has been found roosting in caves and deserted buildings. It is differentiated by size and external, cranial and dental morphology from Hipposideros ater from the Indian Subcontinent. Both taxa are distinguished from a new species, Hipposideros sp. nov., herein described from the Rakhine coast of western Myanmar, with referred material from Tanintharyi Division in southern Myanmar. In all cases, individuals were found roosting in human habitation. Information on the conservation status, distribution and ecology of the three species are included.

Late Middle Eocene Bats from the Creechbarrow Limestone Formation, Dorset, Southern England with Description of a New Species of Archaeonycteris (Chiroptera: Archaeonycteridae)

Isolated teeth of Chiroptera from the Creechbarrow Limestone Formation of late Middle Eocene age are reported. Five distinct chiropteran taxa are present. A new species of Archaeonycteris is described, representing the last survivor of this archaic genus. Two rhinolophoid species include the hipposiderid Pseudorhinolophus schlosseri and Rhinolophidae gen. et sp. indet. Vespertilionoid bats are represented by one species Stehlinia quercyi. A single trigonid represents a small species, which could have affinity with the genus Ageina.

Occurrence of Macroneomys brachygnathus Fejfar, 1966 in the British Middle Pleistocene, with a review of the status of Beremendia fissidens [Petenyi, 1864] in Britain [Mammalia, Lipotyphla Soricidae]

Abstract. Rare isolated mandibular molars of a large soricid recovered from two British Middle Pleistocene deposits at Sugworth, near Oxford and West Runton, Norfolk were originally considered referable to Beremendia fissidens. Review of these teeth in the light of recent researches on the European mainland reveals that they pertain in fact to Macroneomys brachygnathus. Beremendia fissidens is now only known in Britain by one record from the Early Pleistocene (or Late Pliocene) Crag of Norfolk, dependent on the uncertain position of the Plio Pleistocene boundary (1.8 or 2.5 Ma). Lower molars of the two taxa are here compared in detail.