Mops mops ( Blainville, 1840 )

Bumrungsri, Sara, Harrison, David L., Satasook, Chutamas, Prajukjitr, Amorn, Thong-Aree, Siriporn & Bates, Paul J. J., 2006, A review of bat research in Thailand with eight new species records for the country, Acta Chiropterologica 8 (2), pp. 325-359 : 351

Mops mops ( Blainville, 1840)

Malayan free-tailed bat

Molossus mops Blainville, 1840: 101 , Sumatra.

New Material

PSU-M 05.9 (field no. SB030508.8), ♂, 8 May 2003, Ai-kading stream , Bala Forest , Hala-Bala Wildlife Sanctuary , Wang Dis- trict, Narathiwat Province, 05°48’9”N, 101°49’15”E, collected by S. Bumrungsri and members of the Hala-Bala bat research team.

Taxonomic Notes

As only a photograph ( Fig. 2f ) but not the skin is available, this description of the Thai specimen is based on the skull. The skull, with a condylo-canine length of 18.4 mm ( Table 5) is large and has broad zygo- mata. The braincase is inflated anteriorly and the sagittal and lambdoid crests are prominent. The palatal branches of the pre- maxillae are ossified and fused anteriorly; the two small anterior palatal foramina are isolated. The lachrymal projections are prominent. The small ‘first’upper premolar (P 2) is absent, and the canine (C 1) is in con- tact with the ‘second’upper premolar (P 4). The third upper molar (M 3) is reduced and flattened antero-posteriorly, with its second commissure greatly shortened, the meso- style reduced and the metastyle absent. In the lower dentition, the premolars are com- pressed in the toothrow; the first (P 2) is about equal in crown area to the second (P 4).

Distribution and Ecological Notes

Mops mops is found in peninsular Ma- laysia, Sumatra and Borneo ( Corbet and Hill, 1992). The record from Java is doubt- ful ( Hill, 1961).

This species was captured in the same mist net and almost at the same time as P. stenopterus (see above). Cheiromeles tor- quatus was also collected from this locality. Medway (1969) considered this to be a gre- garious bat that roosts in dead or hollow trees and is often associated with the naked bat, C. torquatus .

Figures

FIG. 2. A general view of part of Hala Forest and six bat species new to the fauna of Thailand: A — Hipposideros ridleyi, B — Myotis hermani, C — Murina suilla, D — Murina aenea, E — Kerivoula pellucida, F — Mops mops