Nyctimene sanctacrucis Troughton, 1931

Parnaby, Harry E., Ingleby, Sandy & Divljan, Anja, 2017, Type Specimens of Non-fossil Mammals in the Australian Museum, Sydney, Records of the Australian Museum 69 (5), pp. 277-420 : 382-383

Nyctimene sanctacrucis Troughton, 1931

Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 56(3): 206. (15 July 1931).

Common name. Nendo Tube-nosed Fruit Bat.

Current name. Nyctimene sanctacrucis Troughton, 1931 ; following Simmons (2005).

Holotype. M.711 by original designation. Female adult, skull ( Fig. 49 ), study skin, dried palate, registered September 1892. Presented by Rev. Actaeon Forrest in July 1892, registered in September 1892.The specimen is possibly nulliparous as there are no obvious nipples, nor reduced hair in the mammae area. Condition. Incomplete cranium, missing posterior wall of braincase and posterior half of basicranium including both auditory capsules, left zygomatic arch and left postorbital process. Both dentaries complete. Study skin in reasonable condition: bald patch on either side of abdomen, bald patch on lower throat, both radii are fractured, small tears in both wing membranes.

Type locality. Santa Cruz Islands, Temotu Province, Solomon Islands.

Comments. Known only from the holotype (Leary, Hamilton & Helgen, 2008). Considered to be extinct (e.g., Flannery, 1995c) but listed as Data Deficient on IUCN Red List, in part due to uncertainty about whether this taxon is a full species, or a subspecies of N. major ( Dobson, 1877) , see Leary, Hamilton & Helgen (2008) and Helgen et al. (2009: 29). Troughton notes that the specimen was presented with other specimens of bats and fish but the locality was not recorded, other than Santa Cruz Group. Flannery (1995c) suspected that the holotype was from Nendo Island, but without citing reasons.

Figures

Figure 49. AM M.711, holotype skull of Nyctimene sanctacrucis Troughton, 1931. (Photography by Stuart Humphreys).