Rhinolophus pearsonii Horsfield, 1851

Zhang, Libiao, Jones, Gareth, Zhang, Jinshuo, Zhu, Guangjian & Parsons, Stuart, 2009, Recent surveys of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) from China. I. Rhinolophidae and Hipposideridae, Acta Chiropterologica 11 (1), pp. 71-88 : 79

Rhinolophus pearsonii Horsfield, 1851

Pearson’s horseshoe bat

Rhinolophus yunanensis Dobson, 1872

Dobson’s horseshoe bat

Rhinolophus yunanensis (found in NE India, north Myanmar, SE China and Thailand) is normally recognised as a species distinct from R. pearsoni (see Csorba et al., 2003). The main reason for this distinction appears to be that R. yunanensis is slightly larger (e.g., forearm lengths 51.5–64.0 mm versus 47.0–56.0 mm in R. pearsoni — Csorba et al., 2003). However, the overlap in forearm lengths between the two species is substantial; we have found consistency in echolocation call frequencies (suggesting all bats belong to one species) of bats that would be described as R. pearsoni and R. yunanensis on the basis of forearm lengths (i.e., bats with forearm length <51.5 mm can have a similar call frequency to bats with forearm length> 56 mm). Forearm length is therefore a weak indicator of species distinctiveness, and better diagnostic features are need- ed to adequately separate these taxa. Echolocation call frequency may prove useful in this respect. R. pearsonii from Anhui, Jiangxi, and Fujian call at 64.2–70 kHz, while those from Guangxi call at 57.6–61.6 kHz. Females call at higher frequencies than males, by about 2 kHz. Robinson (1996) reported that R. pearsonii in Malaysia emits echolocation calls with FMAXE at 65.0 kHz. Rhinolophus yunanensis in Thailand calls at considerably lower frequencies, typically around 51–52 kHz (P. Soisook, personal communication). One bat captured in Sichuan emitted calls that were considerably lower in FMAXE (48 kHz), and was probably therefore R. yunanensis . Otherwise, on the basis of echolocation call frequencies, most of the records below probably refer to R. pearsonii . In other parts of S Asia, differences between R. yunanensis and R. pearsoni may be more apparent. Moreover, an intermediate species — R. chiewkweeae — has recently been described from peninsular Malaysia ( Yoshiyuki and Lim, 2005).

Rhinolophus pearsonii

FA — 51–56 mm, mass — 11.0– 17.1 g. Fifty males and 39 females were captured from Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi, Sichuan and Yunnan.

Previous records from China ( R. pearsonii ): Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Tibet, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan and Zhejiang ( Zhang, 1997; Wang, 2003). Rhinolophus yunanensis previously reported from Yunnan ( Wang, 2003).

Ecological Notes

Rhinolophus pearsonii was often found in quite cool conditions in montane areas of high elevation, as was our likely record of R. yunanensis . All records were of small numbers of bats in caves.