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First Record of Ratanaworabhans’s Fruit Bat Megaerops Niphanae Yenbutra & Felten, 1983 (chiroptera: Pteropodidae) from Bangladesh

Mohammad Nurul Islam
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Bangladesh

Amir Hossan Shaikat
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Bangladesh

Kazi Muhammad Fakhrul Islam
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Bangladesh

Subrata Kumar Shil
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Bangladesh

Sazeda Akter
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Bangladesh

Mohammad Mizanur Rahman
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Bangladesh

Mohammad Mahmudul Hassan
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Bangladesh

Ariful Islam
EcoHealth Alliance, 460 West 34th Street, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10001-2320, USA

Shahneaz Ali Khan
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Bangladesh

Neil Furey
Fauna & Flora International, Cambodia Programme, PO Box 1380, #19, Street 360, Boeng Keng Kong 1, Chamkarmon, Phnom Penh 12000, Cambodia

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The bat fauna of Bangladesh is poorly known. Previous checklists only included 31 bat species for the country and were more recently extended by Srinivasulu & Srinivasulu (2005) to 38 species. Given the lack of survey effort for bats however, this figure undoubtedly still falls short of the true total. For example, Srinivasulu & Srinivasulu (2005) listed an additional 28 bat species that are likely to be also occurring in the country and noted that at least 44 species occur in neighbouring territories (Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura) in northeastern India, and that Bangladesh’s bat fauna is under represented due to lack of bat surveys. In January 2014, a training event on bat research techniques and conservation was held at the Chittagong Veterinary & Animal Sciences University (CVASU) in southeastern Bangladesh. As part of a field session undertaken during the event, a single bat was captured at the Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute which lies adjacent to the university. Upon examination, it was determined that the external and craniodental characteristics of this animal did not correspond to any bat species previously recorded in the country. The purpose of this note is therefore to document the occurrence of this species as a new record for Bangladesh.

Keywords: First record, Ratanaworabhans’s, Fruit Bat, Megaerops niphanae, Yenbutra & Felten, Bangladesh

Location: Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Animal Health and Management

Commodity: Bat

Objectives:

The purpose of this note is therefore to document the occurrence of this species as a new record for Bangladesh.

Methodology:

The specimen is deposited at the Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (CVASU). Age and reproductive status were assessed following Racey (2009) and Brunet-Rossinni & Wilkinson (2009). Photographs were unfortunately not taken of the specimen in life. External measurements were taken from the alcohol preserved specimen to the nearest 0.1mm, while craniodental measurements were taken to the nearest 0.01mm using digital calipers under a stereo microscope. Definitions for external measurements were as follows: FA: forearm length – from the extremity of the elbow to the extremity of the carpus with the wings folded; HB: head and body length – from the tip of the snout to the anal opening; E: ear length – from the lower border of the external auditory meatus to the tip of the pinna, excluding any hair; TIB: tibia length – from the knee joint to the ankle; HF: hindfoot – from the tip of the longest digit, excluding the claw, to the extremity of the heel, behind the os calcis. Illustrations of these measurements are provided by Bates & Harrison (1997). Definitions for craniodental measurements were as follows: GTL: greatest length of skull – greatest anteroposterior diameter of the skull, taken from the most projecting point at each extremity along the median line of the skull; CBL: condylobasal length – from the exoccipital condyle to the anterior rim of alveolus of the first upper incisor; CCL: condylo-canine length – from the exoccipital condyle to the most anterior part of the canine; ZYW: zygomatic width – the greatest width of the skull across the zygomatic arches; MAW: mastoid width – the greatest distance across the mastoid region; CM1 L: maxillary toothrow length – from the front of upper canine to the back of the crown of the third molar; C1 C1 W: width across the upper canines – greatest width, taken across the outer borders of upper canines; M1 M1 W: width across the upper molars – greatest width, taken across the outer crowns of the last upper molars; ML: mandible length – from the anterior rim of the alveolus of the first lower incisor to the most posterior part of the condyle; CM2 L: mandibular toothrow length – from the front of the lower canine to the back of the crown of the last lower molar; CPH: least height of the coronoid process – from the tip of the coronoid process to the apex of the indentation on the inferior surface of the ramus adjacent to the angular process. Nomenclature follows Simmons (2005).

Source of Information: Journal of Threatened Taxa 26 September 2015 | 7(11): 7821–7824

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Our incidental discovery of a new country record during a single evening of sampling in a heavily urbanized area highlights the current incompleteness of faunal knowledge and potential for future discoveries in Bangladesh. Much greater survey effort and sustained investments into developing taxonomic capacity and museum collections in the country are needed to realize this potential.

Knowledge Management: Journal