Hipposideros srilankaensis, Srinivasulu & Kusuminda & Srinivasulu & Ukuwela & Amarasinghe & Siriwardana & Kaur & Mannakkara & Soisook & Kamalakannan & Yapa & Srinivasulu, 2025

Srinivasulu, Bhargavi, Kusuminda, Tharaka, Srinivasulu, Aditya, Ukuwela, Kanishka D. B., Amarasinghe, Chamara, Siriwardana, Sahan, Kaur, Harpreet, Mannakkara, Amani, Soisook, Pipat, Kamalakannan, Manokaran, Yapa, Wipula Bandara & Srinivasulu, Chelmala, 2025, Taxonomic revision of the South Asian allies of Hipposideros galeritus Cantor, 1846, Zootaxa 5590 (4), pp. 507-530 : 520-523

Hipposideros srilankaensis sp. nov.

Kusuminda, B. Srinivasulu, Amarasinghe, A. Srinivasulu, C. Srinivasulu, and Yapa

Hipposideros galeritus brachyotus ( Dobson, 1874)

Hipposideros galeritus Blanford, 1888

Hipposideros brachyotus Wroughton, 1913

Hipposideros galeritus brachyotus Tate, 1941

Holotype: NMSL 2023.08.01 NH, adult male preserved in alcohol with the skull removed and clean, collected by Tharaka Kusuminda and Sahan Siriwardana on 06 May 2018.

Type locality: Makulella (Bandarawela), Badulla district, Uva Province, Sri Lanka.

Other material: ZSI 20553 ; ZSI 20554 ; ZSI 20555 ; ZSI 20556 ; BNHS 3687 ; HZM 9.28779 ; HZM 10.28780 ; HZM 12.30955 ; HZM 13.31080 ; HZM 15.40112 ; NMSL 15 A, NMSL 15 O, NMSL 15 L, NMSL 15 H, NMSL 15 K, NMSL 15N.

Diagnosis: Medium-sized bat with forearm length ranging between 45.07–53.1 mm. Ears tall, broad, with moderately developed antitragus. Tragus absent. Noseleaf broad, covering the whole muzzle; two pairs of supplementary leaflets. Posterior leaf with three septa clearly dividing it into four cells. Skull narrow, long, condylocanine length 15.66 ± 0.45 mm. Maxillary toothrow (CM 3) 6.05 ± 0.11 mm. First upper premolar (PM 2) small but within toothrow. First lower premolar (PM 2) half the height of PM 4, one-third the height of canine. Baculum small, base and apex trilobed with straight parallel-sided shaft in lateral view.

External characters (based on holotype): A medium-sized hipposiderid with a forearm length of 49.99 mm. Ear moderately tall (16.57 mm) and broad, ending with a pointed tip; antitragus is moderately developed, roughly rectangular, one-third the height of the pinna; tragus absent ( Figure 8A, C ). The outer border of the pinna narrows gradually to a narrowly rounded tip, with slight concavity just before the tip of the pinna. The outer border with nine transverse sparsely-haired ridges, inner border of pinna hairy. The noseleaf is broad covering the whole of the muzzle; anterior leaf is as broad as the posterior leaf; two pairs of supplementary leaflets are seen immediately beneath the anterior leaf; first pair of supplementary leaflets are longer than the second, almost touching near the median margin of the anterior leaf; second pair of supplementary leaflets three-quarter the length of first pair ( Figure 8B ). The anterior leaf, supplementary leaflets, and the posterior leaf are greyish black. The internarial septum is greyish black, parallel-sided, long, tapers to a point, touching the intermediate leaf, and lower than the margin of nares (unlike in other hipposiderids wherein the internarial septum is slightly raised from the rest of the noseleaf). Nares are long and transverse; narial lappets are well developed, and located on the sides of nares. The intermediate leaf is heart-shaped with a concave median superior border; and is slightly smaller than the anterior leaf. The posterior leaf has a slight median projection at the same position as the concavity in the intermediate leaf. Three septa divide the posterior leaf into four distinct cells. The wing is attached to the base of the toe, and the interfemoral membrane is attached to the ankle ( Fig. 8E ). Fourth metacarpal longest, while the fifth metacarpal is the shortest. The first and the second phalanges are 40.50% and 48.86% of the third metacarpal respectively. The shaft of the penis is straight, cylindrical, and tapering towards the tip ( Figure 8D ).

Craniodental characters: The skull is narrow and delicate (GTL: 19.18 mm). The sagittal crest is visible but not pronounced, extending up to the parietal region ( Figure 9A ). The interorbital region is broad. Rostrum is bulged, with three well-developed nasal inflations; the bottommost one is the largest, and the median one the smallest, and round; kidney-shaped nasal inflations are located on either side of the rostrum ( Figure 9B ). The zygoma are delicate ( Figure 9A ). Upper incisors are simple, small, and bicuspid ( Figure 9E ). Canines are delicate and tall; the first upper premolar (PM 2) is small, within the toothrow, located between the second upper premolar (PM 4) and canine ( Figure 9A ). The parastyle of the first and second upper molars (M 1 and M 2) is well developed; the metacone of M 1 is longer than the paracone; the paracone of M 2 is slightly longer than the metacone. The hypoconal flange is well-developed in M 1, both toward PM 4 and M 2, which is why the hypoconal flange of M 2 is in contact with the mesostyle; the commissures are thick. Metastyle of protocone of all three molars well-developed. The metacone and paracone of M 3 are well developed but lack metastyle and hypoconal flange. The canine of the lower toothrow is narrow and tall. The first and second lower premolars (PM 2 and PM 4) are in contact ( Figure 9C ). The second premolar is one-third the height of the canine, and half the height of the fourth premolar. Two pairs of tricuspidate lower incisors present in a single line ( Figure 9F ).

Pelage color: Fur dark brown to fawn on the dorsal surface. Around the muzzle, the fur is darker, colored similar to the dorsal surface. On the head, hairs have pale bases with fawn tips. The area under the face is similarly colored as the head, while belly hairs are off-white. Wing and interfemoral membranes are dark, hairless with the fur of the body not extending onto the interfemoral membrane.

Baculum structure: The baculum is small (0.85 mm, N= 1), with a parallel-sided shaft. The proximal end has a median rounded portion with two projections on either side, and the distal end has two prongs with space in between ( Figure 4b ).

Common name: Sri Lankan Leaf-nosed Bat

Ecology: This species has been recorded to roost in small colonies comprising a male, a few females and young, in small caves, old houses, churches, beneath overhanging rocks, and among boulders ( Phillips 1923; Kusuminda et al. 2022a). It has been known to frequent open areas for foraging and is found from the low country to elevations of 1067m (3500 ft: Phillips 1923).

Distribution: This species is endemic to Sri Lanka, and has been recorded from North Western Province: Kala Oya, Puttalam, Wilpattu National Park and Kurunegala. Central Province: Gammaduwa, Kumbalgamuwa and Ginigathhena. Western Province: Bulathsinghala, Anasigalla, Kalutara, Labugama and Pilikuttuwa. Uva Province: Makulella (Bandarawela), Walhaputenna and Passara. Northern Province: Mannar. Sabaragamuwa Province: Balangoda, Kitulgala, Kegalle, Deraniyagala and Wavulpane. Southern Province: Pitabeddera ( Phillips 1980; Bates & Harrison 1997; Yapa 2017; Kusuminda et al. 2022a; Present study) ( Figure 1 ).

Comparisons: Cantor (1846) described the noseleaf to be large in H. galeritus with the transverse leaf (=posterior leaf) being as broad as the anterior leaf and almost in contact with the ears. Dobson (1874, 1876), in his description of Phyllorhina brachyota (= H. brachyotus ) mentioned that the transverse leaf is rectangular, with the superior margin being less convex, and with a concave front portion with three prominent vertical ridges. In fresh specimens of H. brachyotus the posterior leaf is rectangular, divided into three ridges but does not show any concavity. The intermediate leaf shows a slight concavity and a slight projection in the median area and does not exceed the width of the anterior leaf ( Figure 10A ). The noseleaf of H. srilankaensis is broad and large, covering the whole of the muzzle and is almost in contact with the broad ears. The posterior leaf shows a well-developed medial projection while being divided by three ridges, while the intermediate leaf shows a pronounced “V” shaped concavity in the median region ( Figure 10B ). The frontal pore was mentioned to be small and indistinct by Dobson (1874), which is so in fresh specimens of H. brachyotus . In H. srilankaensis , however, the frontal pore is clearly evident, though it is absent in H. galeritus ( Cantor, 1846) . The noseleaf of H. galeritus from South Thailand is as broad as long ( Figure 10C ). The posterior leaf is tall, similar to that of H. srilankaensis . In the noseleaf of H. galeritus from NE Thailand the internarial septum is short, parallel-sided, and ends with a bluntly rounded tip ( Figure 10D ), rounder than that in H. brachyotus . The internarial septum is spindle-shaped in the South Thailand specimen, while in H. srilankaensis the internarial septum has a broad base and tapers to a point, touching the intermediate leaf. The ears of H. brachyotus are very small, as broad as long, with the anterior margin notably convex and the outer margin slightly concave beneath the tip ( Dobson 1874). In live specimens, the ears are evidently broader than long. The ears of H. galeritus were mentioned to be sub-erect, broader than long, their breadth equaling the length of the head ( Cantor 1846). In H. srilankaensis , the ears are broad and erect. In H. galeritus more than two-third of the back of the ear is covered with fur, with only a narrow hairless line along the external margin of the ear ( Cantor 1846), a character which is present in both H. barchyotus and H. srilankaensis . The zygoma are robust and lack the dorsal process in H. brachyotus ( Figure 11A ), whereas in H. srilankaensis they are slender and delicate, and lack the dorsal process ( Figure 11B ), while in H. galeritus from Tarutalos, South Thailand the zygoma are slender with a prominent dorsal process ( Figure 11C ). The sagittal crest is slightly pronounced in the frontal region in H. brachyotus , visible but not pronounced in H. srilankaensis , and slightly pronounced in H. galeritus . The skull is comparatively bulbous in H. srilankaensis , more than in H. brachyotus and H. galeritus ( Figure 11A, B, C ). The palate is wider and longer in H. srilankaensis in comparison to H. brachyotus . The mesopterygoid space in H. brachyotus is an almost O-shape, while in H. srilankaensis it is a blunt V-shape. The canine of the lower jaw is tall and slender in H. srilankaensis , while in H. brachyotus it is not as tall, while the 2 nd premolar reaches three-quarters the height of the canine.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distribution range of H. galeritus sensu lato depicting the range of H. brachyotus (in light blue) and the type locality (blue circle), the range of H. srilankaensis sp. nov. (in light red) and the type locality (red circle), and the range of H. galeritus (grey) and the type locality (black circle).

FIGURE 4. Baculum (dorsal view) of A—H. brachyotus (NHMOU.CHI.7.2014), B—H. srilankaensis sp. nov. (NMSL2023.08.01NH), and C—H. galeritus (PSUZC-MM2005.66). Scale: 1mm.

FIGURE 8. External features of Hipposideros srilankaensis sp. nov. (Specimen not collected) [A—view of the head showing facial features; B—Noseleaf structure; C—Shape of the ear; D—Lateral view of the penis; E—Hindfoot showing attachment of patagium and uropatagium].

FIGURE 9. Skull and mandible of Hipposideros srilankaensis sp. nov. (Holotype, NMSL2023.08.01NH, male, Makulella, Bandarawela, Uva Province, Sri Lanka) Scale: 5mm. [A—lateral view of skull; B—dorsal view of skull; C—lateral view of mandible; D—dorsal view of mandible; E—frontal view of skull; and F—frontal view of mandible].

FIGURE 10. Frontal profile depicting the characteristic noseleaf and distinct internarial septum in A. Hipposideros brachyotus (NHMOU.CHI.35.2014), B. H. srilankaensis sp. nov. (specimen not collected), C. H. galeritus from S Thailand (PS200128.4), and D. H. galeritus NE Thailand (PS1905005.1).

FIGURE 11. Comparison of skulls of A. Hipposideros brachyotus (NHMOU.CHI.7.2014, Donkarai, East Godavari Dist., Andhra Pradesh, India), B. H. srilankaensis sp. nov. (NMSL2023.08.01NH, Makulella, Bandarawela, Uva Province, Sri Lanka) and C. H. galeritus (PSUZC-MM2005.66, Ao Son, Tarutao Is., Satun, Thailand). Scale: 5mm.