Rhinolophus shameli Tate, 1943

Thong, Vu Dinh, Bumrungsri, Sara, Harrison, David L., Pearch, Malcolm J., Helgen, Kristofer M. & Bates, Paul J. J., 2006, New records of Microchiroptera (Rhinolophidae and Kerivoulinae) from Vietnam and Thailand, Acta Chiropterologica 8 (1), pp. 83-93 : 86

Rhinolophus shameli Tate, 1943

Shamel’s horseshoe bat

Rhinolophus shameli Tate, 1943: 3 ; Koh Chang Island, Thailand

New material, previous records and distri- bution

Vietnam: Chu Mom Ray National Park, Kon Tum Province (14°28’N, 107°47’E, 750 m a.s.l.), 9 June, 2005, 3 ♂♂

(VDT05005/..05006 and ..05008), 1 ♀ (VDT05007) collected by Vu Dinh Thong and Pham Duc Tien.

This is the first published record for Vietnam, although B. Hayes and T. Howard (in litt.) included it in an unpublished report on Pu Mat Nature Reserve. Previously known from Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, and peninsular Malaysia (Sim- mons, 2005).

Description and taxonomic notes

Externally, the four specimens from Vietnam, with a forearm length of 45.8– 47.3 mm (Table 1), are large in comparison to those included in Csorba et al. (2003), for which the values are 42.0– 46.5 mm. However, they are comparable in all mor- phological characters including the con- necting process of the noseleaf, which is in- serted into a fissure in the thickened lancet and covered with short, dense hairs. Skull length (SL) is 20.4–21.2 mm (Table 2), which is within the range (19.3–21.6 mm) given by Csorba et al. (2003). The rostrum is high with the anterior and median swellings prominent. The width across the lateral swellings of the rostrum (RW) is 6.0 mm (6.0– 6.1 mm, n = 4). In the smaller, but morphologically similar R. coelophyllus , the width is less than 5.5 mm (Csorba et al., 2003).

Ecological notes and conservation status

All four specimens were captured in a harp trap, which was set across a foot- path next to a narrow stream and a small cave. The study site was located in the core zone of the Chu Mom Ray National Park in an area of essentially undisturbed, low- land evergreen forest. Light rain was falling at the time of capture. Kerivoula kachinen- sis and Murina tubinaris were also captur- ed at this site. The conservation status of R. shameli is lower risk, near threatened (Hutson et al., 2001).