Tadarida insignis ( Blyth, 1862 )

Jo, Yeong-Seok, Baccus, John T. & Koprowski, John L., 2018, Mammals of Korea: a review of their taxonomy, distribution and conservation status, Zootaxa 4522 (1), pp. 1-216 : 34-35

Tadarida insignis ( Blyth, 1862) —East Asian Free-tailed Bat

Cephalotes teniotis Rafinesque, 1814 p.12 ; Type locality-Sicily, Italy.

Nyctinomus insignis Blyth, 1862 p.90 ; Type locality- Amoy , Fujian, China.

Tadarida latouchei Thomas, 1920 p.283 ; Type locality-Chili, China; Tate, 1947 p.98 (reaches Korea and Vladivostok).

N. insignis: Ognev, 1927 p.157 .

T. septentrionalis Kishida: Kishida & Mori, 1931 p.379 (Nomen nudum).

T. teniotis insignis: Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951 p.134 ; Won, 1958 p.460; Won, 1967 p.353; Won, 1968 p.139; Corbet, 1978 p.63; Yoon, 1992 p.56.

T. teniotis: Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951 p.133 ; Corbet, 1978 p.63; Han, 1994 p.45; Won & Smith, 1999 p.15; Son, 2001 p.131; Yoon, 2010 p.99.

T. insignis: Yoon, 2004 p.93 .

Range: The few specimens of T. insignis collected throughout Korea belie the fact that the species remains very rare. Recent records for T. insignis came from the warm coastal region such as Ansan, Geoje Island and Jeju Island ( Han et al. 2011; Fig.18 ).

Remarks: Based on the morphological characteristics of Japanese populations, East Asian T. teniotis were attributed a separate species, T. insignis ( Simmons 2005; Aulagnier et al. 2008). However, Korean free-tailed bats show a closer morphological affinity with T. teniotis than T. insignis in some features, such as color of dorsal pelage, shape of keel, emargination of the anterior palate and plagiopatagium ( Yoon 2010). Since T. teniotis latouchei has been regarded as a separate species, there is a high possibility that Korean Tadarida belongs to T. latouchei Thomas, 1920 . The type locality for T. latouchei is closer to the Korean Peninsula (380 km) than T. insignis (1400 km) and T. teniotis (9400 km). An analysis based on morphological measurements and including T. latouchei and T. insignis from Japan showed that Korean specimens were intermediate between the two species ( Funakoshi & Kunisaki 2000). For example, the forearm length ranged from 53.6–56.5 mm and 60.4–65.3 mm for T. latouchei and T. insignis , respectively, while specimens from Korea measured 58.9–61 mm ( Yoon 2010). Also, tibia length varied from 16.9–17.2 mm ( T. latouchei ) to 17–23 mm ( T. insignis ) and 19.8– 19.7 mm (Korean Tadarida ). Kishida and Mori (1931) assigned the subspecies T. t. septentrionalis to Korea. The classification of Korean Tadarida is not a fixed issue, and genetic studies are needed to address the taxonomic status of free-tailed bats in Korea. Here, we followed the taxonomy of Simmons (2005) and IUCN Red List by Maeda et al. (2008).

Conservation status: This species has regional protection in the neighboring countries ( China and Japan), but not in Korea.

Figures

FIGURE 18. Range map of Tadarida insignis in Korea.